


Melted Snow

by Gilraen_Euphemia_Amandil_Shirokaze



Series: Fire and Ice [5]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Developing Relationship, F/M, Mention of past rape/non-con, Self-Sacrifice, drugged guards causing cinflict
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-14
Updated: 2015-08-25
Packaged: 2018-04-09 09:21:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 40,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4342979
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gilraen_Euphemia_Amandil_Shirokaze/pseuds/Gilraen_Euphemia_Amandil_Shirokaze
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Terra is dead. Haku is comatose in the hospital. Itachi is being stretched thin over the village with trivial missions. However, things are looking up for Team Seven, but evil is stirring and there's no stopping the cogs of the great machine of war as darkness blooms on the horizon. Snakes will slither, clouds will drip blood, and the earth will shake. Shake, move, and reveal...<br/><br/><br/>Terra died in the Land of Snow...or did he? The truth unravels and desperate escapes ensue. Can life continue, or will relationships crumble away in the face of new adversity. It's bad enough that Terra and Tenten were separated by the veil of death, but what else could tear them apart? Team Twelve is back in business, with a new face coming to the ranks, and missions waiting in the wings. So begins the Second Book of the Fire and Ice Series: Melted Snow.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Rekindling of Hope

**Author's Note:**

> I'M BACK!! Someone found the Phoenix Downs! Honestly, though, between school, summer courses, my best friend's wedding, and being sick for THREE Shadow Dammned weeks in a row, I haven't had much of a life. To be frank though, I don't like this part of the story. It doesn't move very well, and it's kinda choppy. I've got so many ideas for AFTER the time-skip for Shippuden, I was having problems rounding off this story for you guys without falling straight into the 'post-time-skip' stories, which felt like cheating. So, here we go! This will be updated every four days or so, so watch your emails if you're following or check back every few days.

_Itachi walked slowly down the hall to the only room in the hospital that the nurses wouldn’t go near. Even Tsunade was hard pushed to get through, though it wasn’t for trying. The room was nigh impenetrable to anyone who didn’t know high level fire jutsu. The masked Uchiha came to a halt before the iced over door, and stared at it for a moment. A soft sound made his eyes drift downwards and to the right, looking at his companion._

_“Time to face the music, or I suppose in this case, the iceberg.”_ _The shorter figure murmured. Itachi nodded, then turned to the door, flipping through a handful of seals._

_“Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!” he murmured, and a great blast of flame washed over the door. After several seconds, the ice began to melt, forming a puddle on the floor. A few more seconds, and the door was clear. Itachi dropped the jutsu, quickly moving forward and shoving the door open, his companion hurrying after him. They managed to get inside before the advancing ice slammed the door shut. The room beyond the door was like a freezer. Itachi carefully stepped forward, using chakra to keep from sliding and maneuvered around the frozen privacy curtain to view Haku. The younger shinobi looked a mess, his face pale and drawn, and it was obvious he hadn’t had even a shower in quite a while. The nurses hadn’t been able to get him to eat anything either, not even Tsunade, and it was beginning to show. Itachi set his foot down deliberately loudly, and the ice-user looked up._

_“Oh, it’s you, Itachi.” Haku muttered, averting his eyes. Itachi knew he looked a lot like his cousin, though as he was born a few months earlier it should be vice-versa, so the fact that his teammate wouldn’t look at him was understandable._

_“You’ve been in here going on two weeks.” The Uchiha stated, “Are you going to come out anytime soon?” Haku tightened his grip on his upper arms, which were looped around his legs, and ducked his head into that loop._

_“I…I can’t.” the cryomancer whispered, and Itachi could hear the bitten back sobs, “I can’t do this. Not without him.” Itachi knew exactly who ‘him’ was._

‘Terra.’ _Itachi thought, letting his eyes slide back behind the curtain to his companion._

_“He’s the one…he brought me out of the darkness. I…I know what…I know what would have h-happened if I’d…I had reacted sooner that…that day with m-my f-f-f-….” Haku trailed off and Itachi stayed standing still, listening intently as Haku continued speaking, “I…I would have wandered f-for years…and Z-Zabuza…he…he would have found me…because I wouldn’t have l-left the area. And…and that day on the bridge…Terra would…he wouldn't have been there. I…I would have taken the blow…and…and…and…” the ice-user sobbed, the sound slipping from his throat unbidden. Itachi kept his distance, knowing that his teammate’s distress meant that his powers were in flux as well. He wished it wasn’t so, otherwise he’d be over there with Haku._

_“And what about T-” he cut himself off, “him, what would have happened?” the Uchiha asked quietly. Haku hiccupped._

_“He…he wouldn’t have…he would have b-b-broken. The…the Catacombs…they…he would never have…he would never leave.”_

_“Well then, I guess it’s a good thing that events turned out the way they did.” Silence followed this statement. Almost in a daze, Haku looked up, eyes tracking the wheel-chair bound figure that was moving out from behind Itachi. They came to a stop once beside the Uchiha, and smiled faintly at the cryomancer, “I don’t think anyone would have liked that outcome.”_

_“T-Terra!” Terra Uchiha smile widened into one of his trademark grins, and he nodded briefly. Of course, this was enough time for Haku to lunge forward and punch his best friend in the face. The pyromancer let out a yelp as he and the wheel-chair toppled backwards, sending him sprawling on the icy floor._

_“Cold, cold, cold, COLD!” Terra hissed, using his arms to right the chair, then maneuver himself up into it. His legs seemed to protest the movement, as he groaned and rested his head in his lap._

_“Terra?” Haku asked, stunned to see his usually resilient friend in pain._

_“My legs were broken, very badly. I startled Gaara of the Desert, not a good idea mind, and he retaliated without thinking. My healing is taking a while, because I was pretty beat up before I managed to escape.” Terra grimaced, pulling his cast-wrapped legs into position._

_“Escape? I thought you were dead. What happened?” the ice-user queried. Terra glanced up, then crossed his arms and sat back._

_“Well…it’s a bit of a long story, started almost a three weeks ago…I think, but…let’s defrost this room first.” Haku glanced around and flushed in embarrassment. Within a few moments, Haku absorbed the majority of the cold, while Terra let out pulses of heat that washed gently over the room and turned the ice and water to steam. Then Itachi and Haku sat on the bed while Terra began his tale, which started back in the Land of Snow._

{[\|/]}               {[/|\\]}               {[/|\\]}

            It didn’t take long to completely loose sight of the pursuing shinobi, but Terra didn’t stop. He raced down corridors and around corners, his senses wide open to hear or smell someone other than himself or the princess.

“Put me down!” Koyuki slammed her fist down on Terra’s shoulder. Normally, this wouldn’t have bothered him, but she’d missed his curse mark by just an inch or so. Because of the mark’s flaring as of late, the skin and muscle around it had been very tender. Not to mention that was a tad too close to his neck for comfort. As such, the hit caused Terra to stumble, not expecting the pain, though it didn’t reach far on his scale, not even registering an ‘Ow’. What made him collapse was the pain that began to radiate from his curse mark as it struggled to reach past the seal that had been placed upon it. Koyuki hesitantly rose to her knees, staring at the writhing teen before her. Terra had clamped his teeth down on his forearm, muffling his cries of pain. The princess-turned-actress-turned princess stared as blood began to well from the puncture wounds caused by Terra’s elongated canines. Terra stilled after another minute, finally managing to detach his arm from his mouth.

“Run.” He croaked, and for once, Koyuki didn’t question a directive.

            Terra blearily watched the princess run away, grimacing as the pain welled from the curse mark on his neck again. He fell back, not bothering to muffle his already soft groans. He’d heard the footsteps approaching.

“How the mighty have fallen.” The blue haired ninja sneered. Terra managed to glare at him with his Sharingan red eyes, then slumped backwards, out cold.

{[\|/]}

            Nadare Rōga had fought many shinobi in his lifetime, however, this teenager was certainly different. Not only was he an Uchiha, one of the few remaining of the once great clan, but he wasn’t scared of anything. Or, if he was, he was very good at hiding it. He hadn’t even flinched when Nadare had kicked him, which was saying something.

“I can’t wait until we get rid of you.” the blue haired shinobi murmured to the unconscious Uchiha, “I might even come visit you, just to see you squirm.”

{[\|/]}               {[/|\\]}               {[/|\\]}

            Blearily, black eyes opened slowly. They almost drunkenly surveyed the dark room, picking out light that was sliding under the door, glinting off various objects. Pupils dilated to slits as a door slammed open, spilling bright light into the small, cramped room. Loud, ringing footsteps echoed around the area, creating a eerie theme as their owner stalked forward.

“Well, well, well. You’re awake. That’s sooner than I thought you would manage.” The silver haired invader muttered, “You were rather beat up. Dotō was a little too hard on you, but I suppose nothing less could be expected of the man that killed his own brother.” Black eyes locked with sable, “You don’t remember me, do you?” Confusion, slight recognition, and wariness were the only emotions available in the stony gaze leveled at the glasses wearing teen, “I’ll introduce myself then. I am Kabuto Yakushi, right hand man and head medic of Lord Orochimaru.” A spark of recognition at the name, as well as a narrowing of the eyes, “Oh, you remember your encounter with my Lord. That’s good. I don’t have to explain why you’re here.” Kabuto chuckled as a stream of what was undoubtedly curses were muffled by the gag in the prisoner’s mouth, “Now, now…none of that.” The silver haired medic raised a syringe filled with pale purple liquid. The muffled stream ended instantly, dark eyes locking onto the vial. Without another word, Kabuto stabbed the needle into his victim’s arm, injecting the fluid. The younger figure grimaced, but didn’t make any other movements or sound.

“Good response.” The silver haired young adult murmured, “I should have fun with you.” The light glinted off his glasses, making a pair of pale mirrors on his face.

{[\|/]}               {[/|\\]}               {[/|\\]}

            The door slammed open, making a loud bang as it hit the wall. Kabuto stomped into the room, looking more than a little cross. He grabbed his prisoner’s shoulder as he pulled one of his unusual kunai from his weapons’ pouch, jerking the teen from his dazed stupor brought on by the latest round of experimental drugs.

“You…are more trouble than you are worth.” A curved blade lanced forward, sliding home in flesh and blood. A gasp of surprise and a splatter of blood were the only sounds that came after the action.

“Come now Kabuto, don’t play with your toys too long. We need to move on to the next test.” This came from the second, lanky figure in the doorway. His arms hung limply at their sides, wrapped in bandages.

“Of course, Lord Orochimaru.” Kabuto said, light glinting off his glasses as he glanced over his shoulder. He yanked the curved kunai from his captive, then pulled a small bottle from his pocket. For a moment, his dark eyes landed on the cut, which was already sealing, then it passed to the bottle filled halfway with small, dark pills. The cork was pulled free, and a single pill was shaken onto Kabuto’s palm.

“Use two.” The silver haired medic froze, looking over his shoulder.

“My lord?” Orochimaru hissed as pain crashed over him, his eyes becoming simple golden disks with hardly any sign of a pupil. After a moment he regained most of his composure, glaring at his medic.

“His healing ability will make him the most viable subject we have. If he can survive it, we will be able to keep a trump card under lock and key. If not...well, he is of no use to me.” Kabuto nodded, and shook a second pill out. The medic advanced on his prisoner, who squirmed and wiggled in an attempt to get away, but was a useless effort. Kabuto forced the subject’s mouth open, careful of the prominent canines, and threw the pills down the other’s throat. He clamped his hand over the mouth and nose. For several seconds, the pair fought, but even one who’s been experimented on as much as the test subject couldn’t hold their breath for longer than a minute without extensive training. With a choked swallow, the pills made their way down, and Kabuto released the teen, who gasped and shuddered.

“Quickly now.” Orochimaru ordered, and four Sound shinobi entered the room at an near run. They formed around the captive in a square, and began sealing the teen in the ‘coffin’ they’d brought in with them. A moment later, and it was done.

“Now we wait.” Kabuto murmured.

“Yes. Now we wait.” Orochimaru gazed almost hungrily at the coffin.

{[\|/]}

            Orochimaru gazed down into the fighting ring. His four best shinobi, the Sound Four, were circled around the now smoking coffin. Gouts of black smoke rose from the barrier over the top, signifying that the person inside was about to burst free.

“Now.” The snake Sannin murmured, able to ignore the pain in his excitement. The coffin exploded outwards, and a light skinned figure slammed into Jirobo. The large teen struggled against his assailant, but they’d already moved on. Tayuya barely made it out of the way of a lightning fast punch, flipping up and away. A rope of fire shot outward, and wrapped around the girl’s shin, beginning to burn through the fireproofing that had been applied to all of the four’s clothes specifically for this fight. Sakon leapt in, his brother Ukon adding his own fists to the punch. The blur of white and fire was sent flying, its rope disappearing, but the twins had to spend the next few seconds putting out the fire that had alighted on their skin. Kidomaru fired eight of his webs at the adversary, pinning them to the wall. The Sound Four regrouped, staring down at their opponent. Brownish-grey skin, with a pair of tear-shaped black marks under each eye, the figure’s hair and clothes seemed to be made of pure white flames. The skin appeared lit from within with the embers of a long burning fire as of a blacksmith’s furnace, flames occasionally licking over the skin briefly in places, and long strands of almost tail-like fire trailed from each elbow, knee, back of the neck, and four from the center of the figure’s back. Red eyes glared at all of them, flicking over and memorizing each face and movement, the black tome spinning madly in agitation.

“This one’s a bit different.” Sakon murmured.

“He’s got more of the madness in him.” Kidomaru mused, “That must be a result from the extra pill.”

“It’s bad enough with one fucking pill.” Tayuya hissed, “Now we’ve gotta fight a damn rat who’s in way over his damn head.”

“You shouldn’t talk like that.” Jirobo chided, earning himself a withering glare.

“Enough bickering, here he comes!” Sakon shouted, diving to the side. Fire exploded across the room as the flaming figure charged again, zipping around like he had skates instead of feet. The four shinobi were a force to be reckoned with, but their opponent was closer to a force of nature, to a Jinchūriki, than a person at the moment. Kidomaru moved back, and began throwing his Sticky Spider Thread knives around in an effort to herd the rouge shinobi into the trap the others were setting up. Tayuya pulled out her flute and stood near the spider ninja, summoning her three Angry Demons and beginning to play on her flute. The demons charged with Sakon and Jirobo, trying to hem the figure in. The rouge fighter skidded to a halt, raising their arms high, then swinging them forward, as if calling an attack. More threads of trailing fire arched over their back, heading for each of the attacking Sound ninjas and summons. Sakon was the only one to avoid it, and Jirobo was shouting in pain from the fiery whip that wrapped around his chest. The three demons were defeated quickly, disappearing in large plumes of smoke. An arrow suddenly exploded into the fight, spearing through the antagonist and pinning the prisoner to the wall. The fire whip around Jirobo disintegrated, and almost all eyes turned to Kidomaru, who had gone to his second stage form.

“One hundred and ten percent accuracy.” He said with a grin, lowering his bow slightly. A groan pulled attention to the pinned figure as the flames receded, along with the strangely colored skin, leaving a dark haired, pale-skinned eighteen year old in its wake. The teen tried to force the arrow from his stomach, but couldn't, falling back into the nearly shattered wall.

Terra Uchiha closed his dark eyes and fell back into unconsciousness.

{[\|/]}               {[/|\\]}               {[/|\\]}

            _Beep…beep…beep…beep…_ the most annoying noise in the universe was what awoke Terra next. He kept his breathing steady, not attracting any attention. Surveying himself, he was relieved to find that the only thing attached to him was a heart monitor. With that reassurance, he cracked his left eye open…and saw a wall. Terra rolled his eyes internally as he closed the left eye to open his right, which of course nearly blinded him. Light was flooding through the room from a bank of monitors and computer screens. Very hesitantly, Terra surveyed the room, feeling safe enough, or as safe as one can get in an enemy’s hideout, to open both eyes and study the readings on the monitors. What he saw tugged at his curiosity, whoever the study was on was very strong, very, very sick, and very, very, very lucky. That was when Terra’s eyes landed upon the person opposite him, in a similar bed. Tubes, wires, and seals surrounded the person, and the pyromancer had a sneaking suspicion of _who_ it might be.

            The door opened. Terra quickly shut his eyes, calming his heart rate and breathing. The visitor strode purposely to the bank of computers, picked up something, and waltzed right out. After a moment, Terra let his eyes slide open, and breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

“Who are you?” the pyromancer tensed, eyes alighting on the body across from him, “Did you also fail to become Lord Orochimaru’s vessel?”

“Fuck no!” Terra bristled, “I hate that asshole. He’s trying to tear what little is left of my family apart!” dark eyes flicked to one particular screen, “And he’s doing it right now. I have to get out of here…I’ve got to stop…got to stop them from getting to Sasuke.” Terra pulled against his bindings, only for a blast of lightning to roar through his system. As the ringing began to die down, the other occupant of the room spoke.

“You can’t break out of those bindings. That table is designed to keep even Jugo restrained.”

“Who the hell is Jugo?” Terra asked, head lolling as he tried to check himself and make sure he wasn’t injured permanently. Already the burns inflicted by the lightning were mending.

“The originator of the Curse Seal.” The Uchiha’s eyes darted back to the other inhabitant, and immediately alighted upon the trio of lines on the other’s chest. The pattern he saw made him inhale sharply.

“You…you have the same mark that he gave me…” Terra murmured. The other stiffened, and seemed to focus more fully on Terra.

“You also have the Curse Mark of the Earth?” the fire-user scoffed.

“Oh, is that what it’s called? I’ve been struggling with it for…oh, going on seven and a half months now. I really don’t like the idea of another having control over me like this, and I never will…not after my childhood.” There was silence for several minutes, and Terra was just thinking about trying to escape again when the door opened. The Uchiha was caught flat-footed, and so didn’t react in time as Kabuto entered the room.

“Good, you’re awake. It’s time for the next test.” Terra flinched as the medic pulled out a syringe, filled with dark green fluid. He tried to get away, but the bindings were too strong for even the Uchiha’s enhanced strength. Kabuto stabbed the needle into Terra’s shoulder, ignoring the teen’s grunt of pain, and injected the substance. Ice seemed to erupt through the pyromancer’s veins and he couldn’t hold back the shout that ripped its way out of his throat. Kabuto removed the syringe and left, leaving the thrashing teen as ice began to actually form from the injection point, creeping over his skin.

“No…no, no, no, no, no, NO! Not like this. Not a chance in hell!” Terra released his hold on his powers slightly, and flames licked delicately over his skin, like a cat lapping up milk. The ice evaporated on contact, and slowly Terra relaxed as the pain stopped, still shivering slightly as he could feel something creeping through his veins, like a panther getting ready to pounce.

“What was that?” Terra glanced up, letting his eyes land on his fellow tenant.

“That, was me…taking defensive actions. I have a very unique relationship with fire. If the fire that I hold inside me goes out…I will die.” Dark eyes darted from the monitors, to the door, and back to the other teen, “Kabuto just tried to inject some substance that was going to spread ice through my body. But…somewhere, my friends are probably thinking I’ve died…and I can’t let at least one of them, go without knowing I’m still alive. He needs someone there to…to just _be_ there. He’s going to be hurting, and I can’t let him go through the rest of his life with a wound that I can fix.”

“You…must really cherish this person.”

“I do.” Terra grinned painfully, “He’s my best friend.”

“I, am nothing anymore. My one purpose in life was to be Lord Orochimaru’s vessel. Now, my body is decaying and there is nothing anyone can do about it.” Terra’s eyes narrowed.

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that.” He murmured, then fell back and closed his eyes as the door opened again.

{[\|/]}

            Kimimaro let his senses reach across the room, feeling the flickering warmth of his new roommate’s chakra. It was a curious feeling. Most people’s chakra had similar but slightly different feels to them. Orochimaru’s was dry and silky, sliding over one’s consciousness like the great snakes he summoned, while Kabuto’s was cool and always felt like a mirror smooth surface. Jugo was one exception in that his chakra was totally chaotic, nothing like anything Kimimaro had ever felt. This teen across from the bone user was also different, his felt like a small flame, warm and curling. When he had unleashed some of his power a few days ago to fend off the effects of Kabuto’s serum, it had grown to a bonfire. Kimimaro was sure that if the older teen, there was no doubt he was over Kimimaro’s fifteen years, was to release his whole power, his chakra would feel like a firestorm. What concerned him the most, was at that time, he could almost imagine that the other’s chakra was examining him too, and not like a trained shinobi reaching out to sense those around, but like a great bird of prey examining its kill. It was a humbling and uncomfortable feeling.

“Hey.” The croaked word made Kimimaro start out of his musings. He didn’t think the other was conscious after being dragged back to the room a bloody mess after a fight with Jirobo. Kimimaro doubted it was a fair fight, as the strength he felt from the other teen was much stronger than any of the Sound Four’s. Most likely, he’d been doped up on drugs and restrained, forced to evade the crushing blows of the powerhouse of the Sound Four.

“Yes?” he replied calmly after a moment’s pause. The last of the Kaguya could hear the other shinobi’s restless fidgeting from the rustle of his clothes.

“What’s your name?” slightly taken aback, the response was surprised from him.

“Kimimaro Kaguya.” After a second of realizing he’d spoken, Kimimaro continued, “And you?”

“Terra Uchiha.” A pause, “Though…I didn’t know about my surname until about two months ago. I didn’t know I had any blood relations alive until then either.”

“How did you not know?” Kimimaro asked.

“Well…it’s a _long_ story.”

“I’m not going anywhere.” Terra chuckled dryly, and Kimimaro could hear the pain from the other’s voice.

_‘He’s distracting himself by talking.’_ The bone user mused.

“No, I suppose we’re not.” He murmured. And so Terra began his story. Over the next few days, when Terra was conscious between experiments, the fire user would tell of his tale as first a captured slave, then a rogue ninja, tied to no village, and finally as a shinobi of Konoha. Kimimaro listened raptly, eager for new stories and tales of another, who seemed to understand the feeling of being totally alone in the world. Terra confessed that even when he and his friend had been under Zabuza’s tutelage, he’d sometimes felt very, _very_ alone because he’d occasionally be left on his own to recover after fights and the other two would go off without him. Kimimaro found himself dredging up memories of his own captivity and release, how Orochimaru had showed him a new path to take when he thought all was lost. They took turns explaining and discussing their philosophies on battle, favorite tactics, preferred weapons, and other things to pass the time and forget their respective pains.

{[\|/]}               {[/|\\]}               {[/|\\]}

            Tenten sighed, then shook her head and straightened, turned, and threw her handful of kunai. Each landed in the exact middle of the bullseye. She sighed in relief. It had taken her a while, but she was back to her full abilities. Admittedly, it was a fast recovery, but she knew that Terra wouldn’t have wanted her to be sad. Tenten shoved the thoughts back farther into her mind, refusing to think further on the subject. Her teammates, sensei, friends, and family were all worried about her, but the brunette would rather they worried over Haku, who had yet to really interact with anyone, having sequestered himself in his iced over room in the hospital. Tenten was reluctant to admit it, but today was the first day in a long time that she’d been able to unconsciously hit the targets perfectly. Terra’s death had shaken her up, badly. However, she was a konoichi of the Village Hidden in the Leaves, and she wasn’t going to let death haunt her steps this early in her career.

“Tenten!” the brunette looked up, seeing Lee and Neji coming around the corner in the path, Lee still on his crutches. She smiled slightly, and gathered up her weapons, running to greet her teammates.

{[\|/]}               {[/|\\]}               {[/|\\]}

            Terra grimaced, jerking his arms and trying to free himself from the shackles that tied his wrists together and tethered him to the wall. Sakon, who’d introduced himself at the start of the ‘fight’ was advancing, chuckling under his breath as Terra struggled.

“All tied up and nowhere to go.” The strange teen said quietly, “So much for the ‘great’ Uchiha clan.” The Uchiha in question snarled, letting flame explode over his chest, burning through the thin tunic they’d given him, leaving the thin pants scorch free and superheating the metal of the binds. A final jerk and Terra’s hands were free. He lunged to the side as Sakon, sensing the danger, threw several kunai. Forgoing jutsu, Terra threw a blast of fire at the silver haired Sound ninja, unfortunately missing. Terra himself was fast enough to keep up with Sakon, for a while at least because of his weakened state, but once the fire left his control, it was totally under its own power. He could feel the newest drug Kabuto was trying creeping through his system, slowing his motions and dulling his senses.

“Too slow!” Terra looked up in surprise as Sakon appeared at his side. The pyromancer brought his arms up to block a kick, and caught the foot that had been aimed at him, only for another two feet to hit him, one in the face, and one in the stomach. The air escaped Terra in a rush as he was thrown backwards, impacting hard against the wall. He wasted no time in recovering, falling to his knees and barely avoiding another kick from Sakon.

“You’re not getting away!” two arms extended from the back of Sakon’s leg and slammed into Terra’s side. The dark haired shinobi rolled, grimacing in pain as his arm relocated itself. Flipping hurriedly to his feet Terra blinked, his eyes flashing from black to blood red. As his hands flew through a series of hand signs. 

“Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!” the blast of wind threw Sakon across the room and he hit the wall hard and Terra took a moment to realize that black spots like Dalmatian spots were not a result of his spinning head and had indeed spread over the younger ninja’s face. 

“Not good,” Terra murmured letting fire begin to lick it’s way over his arms and torso. The pyromancer took another step forward, preparing to cast another jutsu, only for a piercing pain to rip into his left shoulder. He went down hard, cringing in pain as his knees hit the ground hard enough to send a twinge of pain trough his already aching body. The last thing he heard was Sakon yelling at someone, telling them to stay out of his fight.

{[\|/]}               {[/|\\]}               {[/|\\]}

            Training Ground Three was deceptively quiet, considering what was going on. Against one tree, a silver haired man was propped, flipping steadily though the little orange book in his hands. Abruptly the peace was shattered by an explosion around the silver haired man. Clangs of weapons clashing with each other echoed from the cloud thrown up by the blast, until finally the man exited the cloud at high speeds, followed closely by a pair of teenage boys.

“Your teamwork is getting better.” Kakashi commented.

“We know, but flattery will get you nowhere in this fight, Kakashi-sensei.” Sasuke jeered. The Uchiha used a lunging punch-and-kick maneuver to occupy Kakashi’s arms, as Naruto ducked under his teammate and came up to land a hard uppercut on Kakashi’s jaw, only for the Jonin to disappear in a blast of smoke.

“Hey, no fair sensei! That’s my technique!” Naruto shouted. As if to answer to this, two Kakashi clones came running out of the undergrowth. The blonde growled and clasped his hands in a familiar sign.

“Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!” he shouted, and ten or fifteen clones appeared. Kakashi, or rather his clone, disappeared in a explosion of smoke, while the other one fended off attacks from all sides, including above. During the ensuing fight, the defending Kakashi was hit hard, dispelling and revealing itself to also be a clone, only for the real Kakashi to leap into the fight from the bushes. By the time the mass of blondes in orange jumpsuits was defeated, Kakashi was again alone in the clearing. Looking around, the Jonin prepared for an attack, knowing they hadn’t given up yet.

“Looking for someone?” Kakashi turned to see Naruto standing just in the shadow of a tree, arms crossed and grinning widely. In a flash, Kakashi was upon him, and Naruto yelped, backpedaling wildly as he tried to escape. To no avail however as Kakashi landed a punch on his student’s head, only for that student to disappear, clone dispelled. A creaking sound above was Kakashi’s only warning as a giant tree trunk descended from the canopy. The Jonin barely made it out of the way in time, staring at the mass of wood that had almost crushed him. Looking up, the silver haired man caught sight of Sakura, who was sitting daintily on top of what had nearly been the instrument of his destruction.

“Gotcha didn’t I sensei?” the pink haired girl asked with a grin. Kakashi was about to answer when a flurry of kunai made him leap backwards. A form tackled him from behind, catching him round the middle and making him turn to face a pack of blondes charging forward. A quick substitution with a log and Kakashi was charging along the top of the tree trunk that Sakura had felled, towards the pink haired girl, who had stood and pulled out a kunai. She managed to duck under his initial lunge, and nearly impaled his leg with her kunai as he tried to kick her in the side. Sakura suddenly slid away from him, skidding down the side of the tree trunk in a controlled slide before she leapt away, landing on a still upright tree and running up its trunk. As she passed a leafy branch, a folded Demon Wind Shuriken appeared in her hands, and she opened it before throwing it as she leapt off the tree. Kakashi caught the weapon, though it was a close thing, and threw it in Naruto’s direction, as the blonde was charging at him from the other end of the log. Halfway to the Genin, the shuriken exploded in smoke and suddenly there were two of Naruto, both running towards the silver haired Jonin. Kakashi caught Naruto’s punch, ducking a kick from his clone, and whirled to throw the blonde into Sakura, who was coming down to land on the log. At least, he tried to. Instead of allowing himself to be catapulted into his teammate, Naruto twisted in the air and threw a kunai. Kakashi realized it had ninja wire attached to it as the knife thudded into a nearby tree and the blonde jerked hard on the wire, pulling himself into a controlled fall that put him on a lower limb of a nearby tree. Something didn’t sit right with that move for some reason, but Kakashi was distracted as three teenage bodies assaulted him, a gaggle of Naruto clones. Sakura, who had been standing back, pulled something out of her weapons pouch.

“Naruto!” she shouted, and the clones suddenly dispersed. Kakashi turned, pulling out his own kunai and deflecting the one that Sakura had thrown at him. Another three came at him in quick succession, but he deflected them all. His pink haired student suddenly grinned.

“Sakura what-” Kakashi trailed off as he heard a faint fluttering sound, and looking around, saw dozens upon dozens of tiny squares of paper fluttering down through the air around him.

“Ninja Art: Sakura Blizzard!” Sakura yelled, and the hundreds of tiny exploding tags detonated. A good several meters were covered by the blast, obscuring the top of the log with smoke. This worked in Kakashi’s favor as he was hidden from view until he was right on top of Sakura. Only Sakura wasn’t alone anymore, and Naruto was standing in front of her, hands poised for a jutsu.

“Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!” the name of the jutsu was enough to make Kakashi halt, especially coming from _Naruto_. Then he was trying to doge fireballs. Finally, the jutsu ended, and eventually, the smoke cleared. There were three figures standing before Kakashi now, two of which were grinning and the third had his arms crossed and was smiling slightly. The Jonin sighed, smiling internally at the progress his team had made, and straightened, putting away his kunai.

“Very good. You guys have all improved. You can dispel the transformation now Sasuke.” One of the blondes exploded in smoke, and Sasuke was revealed, still smiling, _very_ slightly.

“We had you there for a moment, didn’t we Kakashi-sensei?” Naruto exclaimed.

“For a moment, you two have learned to work together very well. You’ve also learned each others styles to the point of being able to copy them. Good work on the traps too Sakura.” The pink haired teen beamed, “It’s good to see that you’ve kept up in your trainings with Tenten.”

{[\|/]}

            Sasuke crossed his arms as he watched Naruto try and get Sakura to go out to eat with him. He knew that Sakura was just making so much of a fuss because she didn’t want to suddenly seem nice to the blonde while they were in the village. Not with the way that others treated Naruto. She acted much differently outside of the gates than she did inside, but Naruto was surprisingly able to understand and play his part in the charade. They had all noticed how most of the civilians treated the blonde, and acted accordingly. Sasuke suspected that most of the reason Naruto had acted like such a dork as a kid was because of the way that others treated him. The young Uchiha had a sneaking suspicion that _someone_ had seen past the blonde’s mask and had said something to spur him to let some of his real self out from behind that disguise. Naruto, after nearly stringing Sasuke up by his sandal straps in a trap, had begun teaching both Sasuke and Sakura about setting up traps, which he was surprisingly proficient at. The blonde had explained that was how he’d always managed to slip through the ANBU’s fingers, because he was able to stall them with traps. Even Naruto, with his unpredictable movements, couldn’t evade the elite of Konoha that easily for long. Sasuke turned, nodding to Kakashi, who waved absently, and then the teen headed back to his apartment. The silver haired Jonin had also started taking a more active figure in their training after Naruto had shown some competency. At least, whenever he could make it. All of them had started making great strides, and Sasuke felt confident that, come next Chunin exam, they would pass with flying colors. Admittedly, Sakura was still a ways behind he and Naruto, but she knew that she’d have to find another route. As a girl, her body just wasn’t built the same, not as much muscle mass and different structure, as a guy’s. So Sakura threw herself into training with Tenten and had asked Kurenai if the Genjutsu master could teach her some. As of yet, Kurenai hadn’t committed, but Sakura was still hopeful. Sasuke passed the apartment where Terra, Haku, and Itachi had been living since the second week in October. The Uchiha furrowed his eyebrows as he thought, mind drifting to his older brother and the team he’d formed, which was falling apart at the seams now. His gaze lingered on the balcony door, the room inside dark.

“Big brother.” He murmured quietly. If anyone had asked him back in March, when all the madness started in his opinion, if he thought he’d ever be able to reconcile with his brother, he would have peppered them with kunai knives like Haku did with senbon. Now though, he was back on fairly good terms with his brother. He’d hardly seen any of Itachi as of late though. The Jonin and Chunin were spread thin to make up for the deficit from the invasion. It was surprising enough that Kakashi had managed to come to train with them this afternoon. Itachi was being sent on missions all over the village, but never one that took him beyond the walls because he was technically still on probation. Sasuke sighed, continuing his trek to his apartment. He was thinking about taking an apartment in the building where his brother was, as there were several apartments open in the building. Not only would it be convenient for visiting, but cheaper than his current apartment, especially if the plan he and Sakura were devising came through. Leaping up and landing on his own balcony, Sasuke reached for the handle, only to freeze. Four-no five presences had just appeared behind him. He leapt to the side, then used chakra to scramble up to the roof, drawing kunais and trap wire. As the group pursuing him started to come up to the roof, Sasuke dived into the, thankfully, nearby tree line. As the five began to follow, he quickly set up several traps, though none were as elaborate as some of Naruto’s, they would buy him some time. Sasuke slipped out of sight, concealing his chakra as he crushed one of the tablets that Sakura had given both him and Naruto. It was part of a set that would cover the user’s scent, masking it with natural smells from around him. He froze, waiting for the traps to go off, and wasn't disappointed. A hiss and snap were followed by cursing and exclamations. Sasuke allowed himself a smirk, covertly using a low-level Genjutsu to camouflage himself as he slowly began moving down the tree, careful to only use the bare amount of chakra to get himself down without falling on his face.

“Where’s that brat? I’m gonna fucking kill him!” a female voice shouted.

“Keep your voice down Tayuya, or do you want the ANBU Black-Ops on us?” the second voice brought images of slimy substances sliding over his skin, making Sasuke shudder.

“He can’t have gone far, we need to get moving before he gets too much of a lead.” This was yet another voice. Four pairs of footsteps sped away, but Sasuke continued moving silently and slowly. He _knew_ he’d sensed a fifth chakra presence, so, as he finally touched the ground, he knew that he would have to wait for the fifth person to leave before he could go for anyone’s help. A sound alerted him to movement and Sasuke attempted to leap away, but it wasn’t enough. Sticky, white string enveloped him, and he fell backwards as something nicked his arm. For a moment, the youngest Uchiha thought about shouting as he struggled, but his mouth was hampered by the threads. He landed hard against something, and blacked out.

{[\|/]}               {[/|\\]}               {[/|\\]}

            Terra awoke all at once, only to immediately shut his eyes. Kabuto was in the room, standing at the bank of computers. In his hand, he held a small bottle of liquid. However, his face was twisted in a sneer, and he spoke to Kimimaro. Terra kept his face blank, but internally he was frowning darkly. Kimimaro shifted, and Terra could imagine from the sounds and what Kimimaro had said that the white haired teen was getting up and going to try and finish the mission that the Sound Four had started, and according to Kabuto, were having a fair amount of trouble with. The pyromancer waited all of thirty seconds after Kimimaro, and in turn Kabuto, had left before letting loose of his power over fire entirely. The bindings holding him burned away almost immediately, and Terra forced himself to his feet. He grimaced, feeling the remaining pain, stiffness, and injuries from the morning’s tests as he moved to the computer bank and snatched up the bottle Kabuto had left behind, probably thinking he’d never need it.

“See how you like this monkey wrench, Orochimaru.” Terra muttered, tucking the bottle into his pocket, as he’d never been given another shirt, and dashing out the door. Though not before burning the computer equipment to a crisp. His Sharingan bloomed into life, reading for any possible chakra signatures as he rushed through the labyrinthine corridors that made up the base. He’d never made his way through any of them, having instead been dragged unconscious to the training and testing rooms. Though, unlike his and Haku’s escape from the Catacombs as children, he could read the residual chakra in the air and tell by the trails which corridors and hallways were traversed most heavily. In a blur, Terra shot through the passageways, not stopping even after he found the exit, taking to the trees and rushing after Kimimaro’s chakra, which he’d gotten to know over the past weeks. He was going back. Back to Konoha.


	2. Dead Man Walking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Terra is dead. Haku is comatose in the hospital. Itachi is being stretched thin over the village with trivial missions. However, things are looking up for Team Seven, but evil is stirring and there's no stopping the cogs of the great machine of war as darkness blooms on the horizon. Snakes will slither, clouds will drip blood, and the earth will shake. Shake, move, and reveal...
> 
>  
> 
> Terra died in the Land of Snow...or did he? The truth unravels and desperate escapes ensue. Can life continue, or will relationships crumble away in the face of new adversity. It's bad enough that Terra and Tenten were separated by the veil of death, but what else could tear them apart? Team Twelve is back in business, with a new face coming to the ranks, and missions waiting in the wings. So begins the Second Book of the Fire and Ice Series: Melted Snow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here goes chapter 2~! :D

Naruto dived through the trees, trying to catch up to the blue and white blur ahead of him. It was bad enough that the Sound Ninja had kidnapped Sasuke, but now his teammate was acting as if it was _his_ idea. He growled, glad that Lee had shown up, but worried for the older boy, he _had_ just gotten out of surgery. Not to mention the others on the self-dubbed ‘Sasuke Retrieval Squad’. Chōji had never caught up after his fight with the big guy…Jidanda maybe, or something similar? For that matter, neither had Neji. Kiba and Akamaru had fallen down the ravine with that one Sound ninja that had two heads, and Shikamaru had stayed behind with the only female. Even after so long, Naruto thought of the lecture that Kakashi had given them during Team Seven’s first official meeting.

_“Those who break the rules are scum. But those who abandon their comrades are lower than scum.”_

Unbidden, the memory of his talk with Haku in the Land of Waves, before he knew who the other teen was, floated to the top of his brain, as well as the words that had stuck most prominently with him since then.

_“I think, when people are protecting someone truly precious to them. They truly can become…as strong as they need to be!"_

Naruto gritted his teeth, worried for those that had followed him on this venture, and worried for the reactions of their comrades and loved ones back in the village if they didn’t come back. Shikamaru, Kiba, Neji, Chōji, and Lee, they all had someone waiting for them back in the village, be it a teammate, parent, sibling, or just a friend. Thinking of Lee and Neji turned Naruto’s attention to the last member of Team Gai, Tenten. The blonde gritted his teeth, not wanting to think about the weapons’ mistress having to suffer more. She’d already had to force her way out of a depression brought on by Terra’s death. He didn’t think she could do it again so suddenly.

“Naruto!” the blonde skidded to a stop, looking down. His eyes widened and his face paled, but he couldn’t speak around his surprise and confusion.

_‘Speaking of the dead…’_

“I know. I know. I’m dead, right? Long story, probably will be funny at one point in our lives, but no, I’m not! Still, get after Sasuke. He’s a little strange because of the pill they gave him. It makes your head all strange and you see everyone as an enemy until you get knocked out or get it out of your system. Just _fight_ him and keep him within range of the village until someone can come get you two.” With that, the white and black blur darted back the way Naruto had just come, sprinting with a limp.

“W-what…” Naruto trailed off, staring after the lithe figure that was disappearing into the underbrush.

 _‘I don’t believe it. It’s…’_ Naruto’s thoughts trailed off in dismay, then he shook his head, eyes moving forward again and refocusing on his goal, “SASUKE!!!!”

{[\|/]}               {[/|\\]}               {[/|\\]}

            Itachi groaned as he woke up. He’d gotten back from a mission late last night, and was fully expecting to sleep until noon. However, something had woken him up. Itachi rolled out of bed and reached for his weapons pouch as knocking came from the door again. Reaching out with his senses, he found Kakashi at the door. Puzzled as to why the Jonin would visit him, Itachi, who was thoroughly disheveled and looked very un-Uchiha-like, moved to answer the door of the, otherwise empty, apartment.

“Kakashi?” the silver haired Jonin looked worried, which was saying something because it was obvious. For Kakashi to have lost his lazy mask, it had to be something _very_ serious.

“Sasuke was kidnapped, day before yesterday. Naruto and three other Genin were sent with Shikamaru to rescue him.” Itachi froze at the silver haired man’s words. Only two people would be so audacious, and one had left his mark on Sasuke not that long ago.

“Orochimaru.” He hissed. Kakashi nodded.

“Yes, and Lady Tsunade sent _Genin_ after the Sound ninja that he sent to retrieve Sasuke.” The silver haired Jonin frowned and gestured over his shoulder, “Come on, we’re going after them.” Itachi nodded and thirty seconds later, the two had left the apartment and were rushing towards the front gate.

 _‘No way am I going to let go of Sasuke now. He’s my little brother, he’s all I’ve got left, and I’m going to keep him out of that mad man’s reach!’_ Itachi thought viciously, eyes burning red through the eye holes in his mask.

{[\|/]}

            Moving at increasing speeds, Terra tore through the undergrowth. If anyone needed help right now, it wasn’t Naruto to fight Sasuke, the blonde was the best match in the whole village for the young Uchiha. No, it was Kimimaro who needed his help, and not to fight the Leaf shinobi that had undoubtedly followed after Sasuke. The Uchiha pushed more chakra to his legs, and in a moment of blind inattention, didn’t notice the sand on the ground as he shot out of the forest and into a clearing. Nor did he notice that the throbbing pain in his chest wasn’t just from the lingering effects of the tests. Reddish, thorn-like lines were etching themselves over his skin, spreading outward from the Curse Mark just under his right ear. His sharp, red eyes took in Kimimaro, Rock Lee, and Gaara of the Desert, all in the middle of a fight.

_‘Ram. Boar. Dog. Bird. Hare!’_

“STOP!” the three fighters looked up and Terra had just a second to feel the sand curling up his legs before it constricted.

{[\|/]}

            Itachi’s head rose in surprise, attention diverted from Kakashi’s words with his ninja hounds. Two had joined their headlong rush through the canopy, and were relating what they’d learned from the scents. Kakashi had already sent one of the dogs back to gather a medical team to assist Chōji and Neji, both of whom were in critical condition. What Itachi had sensed just moments ago speared through the usual cloud that obscured ‘frivolous’ thoughts during missions. He’d developed this tactic of coping shortly after joining ANBU.

 _‘Terra…but that’s…_ impossible. _’_ Itachi thought, bearing off a little to head straight toward the source of the chakra he’d sensed. He absently noticed that Kakashi had called after him, but he ignored it. As he approached, he could see the chakra of four people, two of which were fluctuating like Sasuke’s did when his Curse Mark was acting up. One of those chakras, Itachi recognized.

{[\|/]}

            Terra was brought to an abrupt halt, jerked to a stop by the sand that covered his feet to the middle of his thigh. He glanced at the Sand shinobi before him and felt like facepalming. Who ever tried to sneak up on Gaara of the Desert, unintentionally though it was, and thought they could live through it?

“Sand Burial!” came the gruff cry and Terra winced as the sand crushed his legs. He fell forward, but that gave him a chance to plant his hands on the sand covered ground.

“Lightning Style: Four Pillar Trap Jutsu!” the Uchiha gasped, and four rock pillars exploded from the ground in a square around the three fighters, and lightning leapt between the pillars to partially immobilize those caught within.

“Terra…but you…” Lee trailed off, staring at the older shinobi, obviously stunned. Terra absently thought that he must look quite a sight, shirtless with his hair wild and loose for once. Undoubtedly, his face was gaunt and the many scars he’d gained, before being experimented on to the point of near instant healing, were on display in a spider web of crisscrossing white lines, looking like hoarfrost spread over his skin. As Kabuto, angry with his apparent lack of results, had refrained from giving Terra any food, his advanced metabolism had been burning through what little energy he could feed it when he wasn’t totally unconscious, falling back on his ability to ‘eat’ his own chakra to substitute for food. The wicked spiral had started again, as the more chakra he used to try and keep his body functioning, the more his body tried to correct it, which meant that more energy was used and the more muscle his body broke down to use for energy. In a far corner of his mind, he realized that the lines on his hands weren’t his imagination, they were from his curse mark, so that added to a fairly bizarre, and starved, appearance.

“Yeah,” Terra winced again, unable to rise properly and forced to swing around, which shifted his legs, “that’s what they wanted you to think. Dotō…he sold me to that creep Orochimaru…not exactly what I expected, but it certainly beats dying.” The pyromancer turned his attention to Kimimaro, who had bones showing beneath his skin in several places, “From the first look I got of that room, I knew that you were a lucky person, Kimimaro. However, I didn’t know how unfortunately so you were until today.” He grimaced, but managed to pull the small bottle from his pocket, which had miraculously remained untouched, and threw it high. It landed in Kimimaro’s outstretched hand.

“What is this?” the last of the Kaguya clan asked, examining the small vial, which was only about three inches long and an inch across at its widest.

“The cure that Kabuto has kept from you.” Terra coughed, “I saw the information about it when I woke up the first time, but I didn’t realize until later that it was talking about you. If you don’t drink all of that, you’ll be able to get someone to recreate it, but if you don’t drink any right now, you’re going to die.” Kimimaro stared at the bottle, then at Terra, then back to the bottle, for once losing the air of control that he’d had since Terra had first awoken in the room where they’d been confined.

“Terra…I…you took…” the bone user’s stammering trailed off as the trap jutsu fell apart as Terra’s eyes rolled back in his head and he slumped forward again, his curse markings receding. Kimimaro rushed to the other’s side, his curse mark also receding as he released it. As Gaara’s sand retreated, he moved the older teen so that he was laying on the ground. The white haired fifteen year old kneeled beside Terra and brought a hand to the older teen’s face, feeling the other’s forehead. His marked brow furrowed as he felt the much too cool temperature of Terra’s skin, which he knew from some of the other’s stories was usually overly warm in comparison to other people. Kimimaro turned to survey Lee and Gaara, who were both watching him warily.

“He needs immediate medical attention, and a lot of heat.” The bone user said quickly, “Kabuto was running tests this morning, and I don’t think he ever had time to recover.” Kimimaro looked up, seeing the two younger Genin staring at him like he’d grown a second head, “His life is in danger, we need to get moving!”

“No need.” The three looked up as a dark haired figure exited from the shadows of the woods, masked face centered on Terra, “I’ll take care of it.” Behind him, Kakashi came into view, stopping at the tree line and staring at Terra. The first figure reached up, pushing the mask over his face up so it rested on top of his head, showing the Leaf symbol on the forehead protector.

“Who are you?” Lee asked, eyes wide at seeing the stranger’s face, which made the newcomer huff in quiet amusement. He looked almost exactly like Terra, though his facial structure was slightly different, as were his eyes, and there wasn't a scar over his left eye.

“You wouldn’t know…but I’m Itachi Uchiha.”

“Are you…a relative of Sasuke’s?” Lee queried. Again, Itachi gave the half sigh, half laugh, eyes never leaving the other Uchiha.

“I’m his brother, and Terra was…is my cousin.”

“That shinobi, he’s an Uchiha?” this came from Gaara, who stared at the unconscious teenager before him. The sand shinobi vaguely recognized the older teen from the Chunin exams, knowing that he’d been one of the stronger ones and wishing he’d gotten to fight the other.

“Yes.” Itachi murmured as he kneeled next to his cousin, then placed a hand on the other’s forehead, palm flaring red as he pushed chakra imbued with fire element nature energy into his hands. After a moment, Terra groaned.

“That’s certainly better than Kabuto’s hands.” The teen grunted, pushing himself upright again, “Damn that man had cold hands.” Terra’s eyes drifted to Itachi, “Ah, ha…uh…surprise, I’m not dead. Dotō’s going to be if he’s not good at hiding.” He was obviously still a little out of it, but fairly coherent.

“Naruto took care of that actually.” Kakashi replied absently.

“Damn. I wanted a shot at the asshole who sold me to Orochimaru.” Terra’s attention drifted to land on Kimimaro, who was still holding the vial of medicine, “Oh, you really want to take some of that now…as soon as possible.” Almost on cue, the Kaguya survivor coughed, deep wracking coughs that brought blood up from his lungs. Both Uchiha reached for the teen as he collapsed forward, and Itachi caught the bottle. He swiftly uncorked it and poured about half into the bone-user’s mouth. The coughing subsided and Kimimaro slumped in Terra’s arms, which succeeded in taking both teens down as Terra was too weak to support the younger shinobi.

“Where are Sasuke and Naruto?” Kakashi asked Lee and Gaara. Lee pointed to the woods across the clearing, as Terra muttered something to do with ‘icky snake holes’ and ‘bad statues’.

“The blonde will need to fight Sasuke to the point of knocking him out.” Kimimaro rasped, having maneuvered himself off of Terra, but unable to go further, “The medicine that is used to push those marked with the Curse Mark into second stage is very volatile, and imparts a kind of madness upon the user until they are beaten or knocked unconscious after using it. Sasuke had a typical reaction from what I could tell.”

“I’m going to go and make sure they’re alright.” Kakashi said, looking worriedly after his students. He disappeared, ninja hounds following him. Itachi stared at Kimimaro for a moment.

“Thank you.” He said finally, making the white haired teen look up. Kimimaro blinked in confusion.

“Why are you thanking me? I attacked one of your comrades.” He asked slowly. The Uchiha shook his head.

“You helped Terra, even though he’s technically your enemy. You care for him as a friend, which is something that all of the Uchiha left in Konoha are coming to cherish.” Itachi explained. Kimimaro coughed slightly, then shook his head.

“I merely wanted to repay him for his kindness to me these past days.” The bone user then murmured as an afterthought, “Though I won’t be able to go back to Orochimaru after this.” Though, after hearing some of the things the snake Sannin had done from Terra, he was less inclined to do so then before.

“Kindness given and kindness repaid are the first steps in friendship.” Surprisingly, it was Gaara that said this, and he was looking at Kimimaro with a nostalgic, half pitying expression in his eyes. Kimimaro, uncomfortable with the attention, refocused his own on Terra.

“Kabuto injected him with some more drugs this morning. Unless anyone particularly wants to see him high as a kite, I’d suggest some medical attention.” Itachi choked on a laugh at Kimimaro’s words, and he was momentarily tempted with the idea of letting that scenario play out. However, the two Genin were exhausted, and Kimimaro was starting to cough again. Itachi enlisted Gaara and Lee’s help to get the bone user and Terra back to the village. It was a long, tiring journey, as three of them had been fighting, one was sick, another had just got out of the hospital and one was bordering on chakra exhaustion for the first time in his life. As they approached the village, Itachi had them pause so he could pull down his mask. He warned the two non-delirious shinobi about refraining from mentioning his name before continuing their trek to the hospital. Kimimaro had removed the purple rope-like belt that would have marked him immediately as a Sound ninja somewhere along the way, so they weren’t stopped at the gate when the two guards saw there were injured in the party.

{[\|/]}               {[/|\\]}               {[/|\\]}

            Terra glanced between Haku and Itachi, who had just finished telling the part about getting back to Konoha after the fire-user had caught up with Kimimaro. The pyromancer had been more than a bit out of it for that part, so it was safer and more coherent to let Itachi tell it.

“What happened to the rest of the squad?” Haku asked.

“Well, Chōji and Neji were in pretty bad condition, not that Sasuke and Naruto were much better. Those two beat themselves to pulp in the Valley of the End.” Terra replied.

“Chōji Akimichi and Neji Hyūga will make a full recovery, according to the nurses.” Itachi supplied, “Sasuke’s going to be out of commission for a bit, but he and Naruto are well on the way to healing. Shikamaru Nara came out with his worst injury being a broken finger, and Lady Tsunade about put Rock Lee through a wall when he got back. He’s been tied down to his bed except for his physical therapy sessions, last I checked anyways.” Haku nodded, then paused.

“What about Kimimaro?” the cryomancer ventured.

“Ah, well. He’s currently being healed by Lady Tsunade, as we speak actually.” Terra supplied, rubbing the back of his neck, “He was in seriously bad condition, however the Hokage managed to recreate the medicine I brought from Orochimaru’s hideout, so he’s at least stabilized until Lady Tsunade can fix him up.” Haku nodded again, then glanced between the two Uchiha.

“You’re thinking what I think you’re thinking, aren’t you?” he asked. The cousins glanced at each other, then nodded. Haku leaned back slightly, resting on his hands which he’d placed on the bed behind him.

“We keep collecting, don’t we?” the ice-user mused, “One of these days we’re just going to buy a whole floor to keep from overcrowding.” Terra snorted and Itachi smirked.

“That would be an interesting conversation with the landlord.” Itachi murmured. The other two agreed.

{[\|/]}               {[/|\\]}               {[/|\\]}

            Kabuto ducked an end table as it flew past him, into the wall. The medic straightened, watching his master continue to partially-systematically destroy the room. After Kimimaro had been deployed, they had presumed that the mission would be wrapped up quickly and handily, if only at the loss of a few of their ninja. However, two hours after the bone-user’s estimated time of arrival, there had still been no sign of their team. Orochimaru had sent out four scouting teams, and while three came back empty handed, after a full day, the fourth came back with grim news. They had found signs of a vicious fight at the Valley of the End. Following chakra trails back led them to a clearing about a hundred meters from the valley. The clearing had been covered in a fine layer of sand, and there had been several large splatters of blood as well as numerous distal phalanges littering the artificially sandy ground. Closer to the south side of the clearing, they’d found the remains of four pillars of stone, and the remains of the coffin that had been used for Sasuke were also present. By backtracking the trail of destruction left, they’d found the bodies of Sakon, Ukon, Tayuya, Kidomaru, and Jirobo. Kimimaro’s body was missing, as was any Konoha or Suna shinobi. However, the tattered remains of a Sound ninja uniform were found, indicating the bone user’s demise.

Needless to say, Orochimaru hadn’t been pleased. Even worse, Kabuto had returned to his lab, only to find it destroyed and his prisoner gone. That news was almost as bad as the revelation that the computers, which had several important documents stored on them, were destroyed. That was the main reason for Orochimaru’s rage was the loss of one of his test subjects, not to mention that his prime choice for his next body hadn’t arrived at all.

{[\|/]}               {[/|\\]}               {[/|\\]}

            Kimimaro watched the clouds move sluggishly by outside of his window, feeling oddly at peace and relaxed. Usually, hospitalized and unable to defend himself from the multiple guards stationed around his room would have made him uneasy, _very_ uneasy. However, he could sense Terra’s chakra not far off, with Itachi’s and another’s. The third chakra was as calm and icy as Terra’s was wild and fiery. It reminded him of the cold winters of the Land of Water, which he had spent in solitude, huddled against the wall of his cell and wishing for death to come, or for a purpose to be allotted to him. However, this cold wasn’t nearly as unforgiving, it was comforting, like an ice pack one would use for a swollen injury.

 _“That must be Haku.”_ The Kaguya survivor mused, absently fingering the edge of his blanket. He had been confined to his bed until the Hokage was satisfied with his health, which admittedly was a valid reasoning, as he had been on death’s door when he’d left Orochimaru’s hideout to retrieve Sasuke. Of course, Terra had put a stop to that quickly enough. Kimimaro frowned, his mind wandering back to his arrival at the hospital with Terra, Itachi, Rock Lee, and Gaara of the Desert.

{[\|/]}               {[/|\\]}               {[/|\\]}

            The five teens had made good time to the hospital, finding it in frantic disarray from the influx of patients. The nurse at the reception desk looked exasperated upon seeing four new patients.

“What’s the damage?” she asked in a tone that said she’d rather not know. Itachi pulled Terra up a little higher, glad to have thought to cast a mild Genjutsu on Terra’s face so that he didn’t appear as a carbon copy of his cousin at a glance. No, he looked more like Sasuke now, but older, his face more angular and eyes narrower than the younger Uchiha. All in all, it was a subtle but _very_ noticeable change. After all, Terra was supposed to be dead, so they couldn’t have everyone knowing exactly who had been found during the explosive event of the ‘Last Uchiha’s’ kidnapping. Itachi’s presence was still unknown to the majority of the village and word of Terra’s death had been spread around, even if the official ruling hadn’t passed yet.

“This guy got captured during our mission. He’s in pretty bad shape, but we don’t know exactly what’s wrong with him.” the nurse nodded, eyes landing on Kimimaro next, who was supported by Lee and Gaara, as the white haired teen began to cough harshly.

“And him?” the nurse asked.

“Ah, we’re not sure. He’s been kinda sick for a while, but nothing serious. It got worse rather suddenly on the mission we had. We were lucky to stumble upon these two on our way back, otherwise it would have been even longer.” Itachi explained, gesturing to Gaara and Lee, who were both trying to look like it wasn’t news to them. The Uchiha sighed in relief when the nurse nodded again, thanking his bluffing abilities to high heaven and back.

“I don’t know what we can do, we’re stretched rather thin. A rescue squad of five has been coming in over the past hour, one of which is still out there, though we’ve heard from a Jonin in the field that the last member as well as the target have been found and both are on the way back. We-” the nurse was cut off as the doors burst open and Tsunade strode into the hospital. She made to go to the stairs, but halted, seeing Itachi and his group standing at the desk. Of course Itachi was wearing his mask, but Tsunade had a good memory, when she wasn’t drunk, and Team Twelve was a rather special case so she remembered all of their specific masks.

“Kuroten, what are you doing here?” the blonde Hokage asked. Itachi inclined his head, unable to bow fully due to his cousin’s half conscious body draped over one shoulder. The half aware teen had kept hissing when his legs had any weight rested on them, so Itachi had resigned himself to having to carry Terra.

“Lady Tsunade, I’m sorry we didn’t report directly, but our mission was successful. However, Gaia was held captive and injured badly, and Beni’s sickness reared its head again.” The Uchiha rattled off, thinking up, rather lackluster in his opinion, names on the spot. Tsunade’s eyes narrowed, minutely, then widened by the same margin as she guessed the meaning for Terra’s alias.

“Come with me, I’ll tend to them personally before I go up to help in surgery. Gaia looks more than a little worse for wear.” Without waiting for the nurse to protest, as she undoubtedly was going to, Tsunade led the group to the elevator. Gaara and Lee continued to support Kimimaro, though the bone user was stumbling along as well as he could to keep up. Tsunade led them to a secure room at the end of one of the halls on the second floor. Itachi heaved the now unconscious Terra onto a bed, before helping the two Genin with Kimimaro, who was quickly loosing strength. Lee stumbled back, but Gaara helpfully pulled a chair over from the wall with his sand, letting the Taijutsu user fall into it. Itachi silently undid the Genjutsu on Terra, and Tsunade stared at the unconscious Chunin for a moment.

“I was right.” She murmured before casting a diagnosis jutsu. The blonde woman grimaced, the feedback obviously not very good.

“Lady Hokage?” Itachi questioned nervously.

“Keep giving him heat, and cover him in some blankets. Our winters are much milder than the Land of Snow’s, but that doesn’t stop it from being too cold for him. That’s as much as I can do right now, but I’ll send someone I trust in soon if not a clone.” She turned to Kimimaro, who was coughing faintly into his hand, “Who is this?”

“Kimimaro…Kaguya.” The bone user managed to murmur around his coughs. A blonde eyebrow rose in surprise, but Tsunade refrained from saying anything. She obviously recognized the clan name, even if there was allegedly none of the bone users left. Itachi produced the small bottle that Terra had given Kimimaro, still a quarter full of the dark blue medicine.

“This is the cure that one Kabuto Yakushi created. Terra brought it with him when he escaped from Orochimaru’s hideout, and from what I’ve seen, it certainly helps and assists in the healing process. However, this is all we have left, and there wasn’t much to begin with.” The eighteen year old said as he handed the bottle to Tsunade, “Terra warned Kimimaro not to take all of it so someone in the village could recreate it. At least, that was before my cousin decided to take a trip to loopy land.” The Hokage smirked at the last sentence, obviously amused with the idea of an Uchiha acting punch drunk, even if Terra didn’t usually act like the run-of-the-mill Sharingan user.

“I’ll get the medicinal and poison department on it. I’ve got to go help in the surgery ward. I’ll come back later to assess the damage to Terra, and see what I can do for you.” The last bit directed at Kimimaro, who nodded in acceptance.

{[/|\\]}

            It took a while for the Hokage to return, the wait punctuated by a young woman entering and getting some readings from a diagnosis jutsu from both Terra and Kimimaro. Itachi had thrown another Genjutsu over Terra’s features, just enough to make his face forgettable, which apparently was what happened as the woman didn’t comment. She paused long enough to do a little healing on Kimimaro, who’s breathing had become rather labored, before jotting down the information and quickly leaving. Being stared down by Gaara of the Sand and, what appeared to be, an ANBU Black-Ops were rather disconcerting apparently.

“This must be tedious for you, waiting for something to occur.” Itachi mused, discreetly asking the Suna shinobi why he had stayed. Gaara’s gaze swung over to him, the piercing sea-foam irises staring through the eye-holes of the Uchiha’s mask.

“To have put so much effort into getting them here, I wish to make sure that chance for them to recover and continue living isn’t wasted.” The Sand shinobi might have been indicating Terra and Kimimaro with his words, but his eyes lingered on the back of Lee’s head. Itachi nodded fractionally, also glancing at the Taijutsu user. The black haired fourteen year old was resting in the chair that Gaara had pulled up for him, head lolling as his body threatened to fall asleep, now that the adrenaline was fading from his system.

            The door opened and Lee jumped, turning as Gaara, Itachi, and Kimimaro looked over at the door. Tsunade stood in the doorway, looking haggard but pleased. The blonde woman surveyed the conscious group in the room and stepped inside, closing the door behind her.

“Everyone on the retrieval team is going to pull through, no casualties.” Faint sighs of relief traveled around the room, “We were a little shaky on Neji Hyūga and Chōji Akimichi for a bit there, not to mention Naruto and Sasuke. They beat each other to pieces in the Valley of the End. Shizune is healing the worst of their injuries as we speak, so they’ll be fine.” Noticing Itachi’s worried expression, Tsunade moved forward, fisting her hands on her hips. She began by berating Lee, for leaving when he was still recovering from surgery. The Hokage then called a passing medic in and had Lee escorted back to his room, promising retribution for the Taijutsu user’s actions. Gaara was thanked for his help and that of his siblings, and offered an escort to the lodgings that Tsunade had arranged for the team. The Sand ninja declined, surprisingly politely, and left in a swirl of sand. Tsunade sighed tiredly and turned to Itachi.

“Sasuke and Naruto are in room 215, if you want to go check on your brother.” The blonde woman said quietly. Itachi looked torn for a moment, wanting to check on his brother, but also worried for his cousin. After a moment or two of deliberation, Itachi shook his head.

“I’ll check on them after I have word on Terra’s condition.” He said at length. Tsunade nodded and moved over to the unconscious teen’s bed, picking up the clipboard that the nurse had left.

“Kimimaro, correct?” the blonde woman mused without turning. The bone user sat up a bit straighter.

“Yes?” Kimimaro replied cautiously.

“I’ll be getting to you shortly. My apprentice, Shizune, will be working on replicating the cure that you brought with you once she finishes with Naruto and Sasuke. I’ve decided to keep this under wraps for now. Very few people will know that Terra has returned, or that you have come to the village. Only one other person, besides myself, those that helped you get here, and Shizune, is going to know about this, and that is Inoichi Yamanaka.” Kimimaro stiffened at the Hokage’s words.

“Yamanaka? The mind walkers?” the teen queried. Sensing his worry, Tsunade turned to look at the teen.

“The only things he will be observing from the both of you will be the past couple of weeks when Terra was in Orochimaru’s hideout. Inoichi will also look at Dotō’s involvement, but nothing more. We don’t need information about Orochimaru’s hideouts yet. We don’t have the manpower to do anything about it. When the time comes, we’ll ask for the information, not take it. The only reason we’re involving Inoichi, is because there may be things in your memories that you don’t realize will be helpful, and we also don’t know how long Terra will be out of commission.” Tsunade turned back to Terra, activating a healing jutsu, “As for those that already know about you and Terra, I’ve asked for Gaara’s silence, as well as his siblings’. It will be up to the four of you to decide who you will keep in the dark. I would suggest informing Tenten at the earliest possible occasion though.”

“Should I speak to Haku, or wait until I can have proof to back up my claim?” Itachi asked, eyes locked on Terra.

“I would wait. We don’t know how long it will take to get him back in working order.” Tsunade winced, “This doesn’t look good. There are new poisons in his bloodstream. I recognize a couple, but it will take time to identify the others. One of them I know from experience will be difficult to extract. It slows down the body’s natural healing abilities, and reduces the other major processes as well. If Terra wasn’t so altered, that would have killed him.” the blonde glanced back over her shoulder, “His legs are also badly broken. That would take a while for me to heal even usually, but I’ve got to focus on keeping him alive. Terra’s body will have to do the repairing itself. I’ll come back later and put casts on his legs so they’ll at least be set correctly.” Itachi nodded sharply, eyes dark with tempered anger from hearing the results of Terra’s stay at Orochimaru’s.

“I’m going to go tell Sasuke and Naruto. They’ll be pleased that he’s back.” The eighteen year old said sharply, turning and leaving quickly. Tsunade shook her head, smirking slightly.

“Uchiha pride.” She snorted, “Doesn’t want anyone to see how happy and angry he is.”

{[\|/]}               {[/|\\]}               {[/|\\]}

            Kimimaro leaned back, sighing as he was brought again into the present by a commotion outside of his door. He tensed slightly, but kept from making it obvious, turning to the door as it opened. Itachi entered, followed by the wheel chair bound Terra. The latter was cursing viciously as he wheeled himself into the room, a gash on his forehead spilling a few drops of sizzling blood down his face. The poisons and Terra’s own abilities over fire made his blood a toxic substance in and of itself. The Uchiha had to donate several pints of his own blood for the hospital to have on hand if he was injured enough to need a transfusion.

“Fucking random ass medical carts laying around in the middle of the hallways.” Terra grouched, indicating the reason for his bleeding head.

“Maybe if you looked where you were going more often, you wouldn’t run into things so much.” An amused voice from the doorway made Kimimaro look back as the door was slid shut. A brunette teen stood there, looking around Kimimaro’s age, maybe a year or so older. He wore white hospital clothes, but didn’t look injured or even recovering, apart from being very pale and thin. The other teen certainly _did_ look rather feminine though. It was only the fact that Kimimaro had heard his voice that he knew the other was male. Light brown eyes drifted over to lock onto Kimimaro’s own bright green. The other teen smiled beatifically and nodded.

“Kimimaro, right?” the bone user nodded hesitantly, “I’m Haku.”

“Haku? You’re the one Terra was determined to save from the darkness?” Terra facepalmed at Kimimaro’s blunt statement, but Haku laughed.

“Yeah, that’s me. Though, I wouldn’t say that in front of Tenten, she might think she’s got competition.” The ice user replied as he took a seat near the window.

“Tenten?” Kimimaro queried.

“Terra’s girlfriend.” Came the swift reply, as a squawk of protest came from the fire user, who was in the midst of pulling himself onto the free bed, which he’d vacated earlier to go with Itachi to speak with Haku. He toppled onto the mattress, losing his balance in his dismay, before hastily propping himself up on his elbows.

“She’s not-…I mean…we’re…we haven’t…” Terra trailed off at his best friends laughter, glaring at his cousin who hadn’t managed to stifle the chuckle of amusement, narrowing his eyes and heaving himself into a sitting position so his back was against the pillows, “Oh shut up the both of you. I don’t want to hear it.” When Haku failed to reign in his glee, the pyromancer flicked a tiny fireball in his direction. The ice user yelped, dodging out of the way.

“Alright, I get it!” Haku exclaimed, “I’ll quit for now.” Terra dropped his head into his hands and groaned.

“It could be worse.” Itachi mused, “You could have Lee and Neji breathing down your neck about it. At least they approved of you.”

“So, is she or isn’t she your girlfriend?” Kimimaro asked, thoroughly confused.

“I don’t know!” Terra yelled from behind his hands, “She thinks I'm dead, it’s not exactly conductive to relationships for one of the pair to be dead.”

“We haven’t had a chance to tell her yet.” Itachi explained, “She is still under the assumption that Terra died in the Land of Snow.” Kimimaro nodded, looking over as Terra raised his head. The pyromancer raised a hand to his forehead, looking confused, and began to vigorously rub at the bloody area.

“What are you doing Terra?” Haku asked.

“Have I got that cut on my forehead anymore?” the question was odd, but valid as looking at the teen’s forehead revealed that there wasn’t anything there anymore, just a smear of blood where it had been.

“No, there isn’t.” Haku finally answered. Terra grinned viciously, pumping the air with his fist.

“Oh _hell_ yeah! I am _back_ in business! Finally, I’ll be able to get these damn casts off!” a faint cracking sound made the pyromancer pause and then groan, leaning over his upper legs as he clenched his fists in the sheets.

“Terra?” Kimimaro ventured quietly.

“Fucking hell that hurts.” The teen hissed in reply, “Holy shit, that was a _really_ bad break. I now understand Lee’s pain from the preliminaries on a whole other level. I _never_ want to be on Gaara’s bad side. Damn that guy packs a punch…though ‘punch’ may not be the right word.” Haku chuckled at his friend’s rant.

“It must be really bad if you’re actually registering it on your pain scale. I haven’t seen you respond like that to a broken bone in a long time.” The cryomancer commented. Terra eloquently flicked him off, still bowed over his lap. Itachi shook his head, wondering how the hell Terra was actually an Uchiha with mannerisms like that.

“I didn’t grow up in that kind of an environment, that’s why I don’t act like a brick wall most of the time.” Terra replied, and Itachi jumped, partially because he hadn’t realized that he’d spoken aloud, and partially because of the pillow that his cousin threw at him.

{[\|/]}               {[/|\\]}               {[/|\\]}

            Tenten glanced at her watch, worried about Lee. The Taijutsu user had asked her to meet him at their training grounds, but was running dangerously close to being late. That was just strange, as Lee was _never_ late. The weapons user figured it could just be his injuries holding him up, but she doubted as much. Noises from the path made her turn, and she sighed in relief to see her teammate ambling along on his crutches. Lady Tsunade had ordered him back on them for another few weeks after his escapade with Shikamaru’s recovery squad.

“Lee! I was getting worried.” Tenten called, moving over to meet the dark haired teen halfway.

“I am sorry for the hold up.” Lee apologized, “I met Shikamaru on the way and he wanted to thank me for my help on the retrieval mission.” Tenten smiled wanly, then gestured towards the large tree in the middle of their training grounds that Lee and Neji often sparred under.

“Do you want to sit down?” She asked. Her teammate shook his head.

“No, thank you.” Lee smiled brightly, “I have something very important to tell you though.” Tenten tilted her head to the side, confused. What exactly could it be. She knew Lee usually listened to all of the gossip in town, just so he could be kept informed, so it could be virtually anything.

“What are you going on about?” she asked. Lee leaned forward conspiratorially, and Tenten couldn’t help but do the same.

“It’s about something that happened on the mission. Something very few people know about. There was more than one person brought back to the village as a result of that mission.” Tenten straightened, staring at her teammate.

“You mean, like a prisoner? Are they going to try and get information on Orochimaru out of whoever they captured?” she asked, but Lee shook his head again.

“No, though I do not doubt that one of the people would have the information, if not both. No, there were two others that were brought back to the village in addition to Sasuke Uchiha.” Tenten’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

“Wow, really? Who? And how do you know this?” Lee grinned brightly at her question.

“I was there when the other two were found. I actually fought one of them.” Tenten gaped at her teammate.

“F-fought? Is that why Lady Tsunade was so upset with you? You went and fought one of the Sound ninja?” she exclaimed. Lee scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

“Ah, yes. That is why the Hokage was miffed at me, but what is more important is the person who showed up during the fight I was having, after Gaara of the Desert of course.” Tenten made a motion for Lee to continue, having already heard about the trio of Sand ninja who had come to assist the team sent after Sasuke, “Gaara had taken over fighting by then, but the Sound ninja we were fighting wasn’t backing down. Then, the only thing we heard was footsteps and someone shouting “stop”. Gaara attacked without looking, but the person approaching managed to get off a barrier jutsu that partially immobilized us all.”

“Someone nearly got the jump on Gaara of the Desert?” Tenten asked in awe.

“Very nearly, yes. Gaara’s sand reacted before anyone could really comprehend what we were seeing, and the other’s legs were badly broken from what I heard. However, I was shocked when I saw who had interrupted the fight.” Lee continued. His teammate was on pins and needles, waiting for the conclusion of the story.

“So, who was it?” she asked impatiently. Lee grinned brightly, leaning forward and resting one hand on Tenten’s shoulder. She stared at him as he moved closer and whispered something in her ear. Tenten felt like the earth had fallen away from under her and she was freefalling. No, that couldn’t be…but…Lee wouldn't lie. Not about _this_.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, more flashbacks and continuation of storyline. Terra makes his reappearance, and Kimimaro reflects on chakra...again. Also, lots of Terra teasing and Itachi collecting blackmail. Otherwise, not much goes on unfortunately.


	3. Retribution, Recovery, and Romance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Terra is dead. Haku is comatose in the hospital. Itachi is being stretched thin over the village with trivial missions. However, things are looking up for Team Seven, but evil is stirring and there's no stopping the cogs of the great machine of war as darkness blooms on the horizon. Snakes will slither, clouds will drip blood, and the earth will shake. Shake, move, and reveal...
> 
>  
> 
> Terra died in the Land of Snow...or did he? The truth unravels and desperate escapes ensue. Can life continue, or will relationships crumble away in the face of new adversity. It's bad enough that Terra and Tenten were separated by the veil of death, but what else could tear them apart? Team Twelve is back in business, with a new face coming to the ranks, and missions waiting in the wings. So begins the Second Book of the Fire and Ice Series: Melted Snow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oops, I missed a day! Grrr, so much going on grarrr!

Tenten raced through the halls of the Hokage tower, desperate to get to Lady Tsunade’s office. Her heart _hurt_ with the hope that thudded in her chest, thundering in time with her pounding footsteps. If this was a joke, she was going to kill Lee. Absolutely and totally destroy him, _after_ using him for target practice. Tenten skidded to a halt in front of the door and threw her weight against it, causing it to fly open.

{[\|/]}

            Tsunade smiled proudly at the eight shinobi that stood before her. It may have been one _hell_ of a leap of faith on her part, but it had paid off, nobody was coming off too worse for wear, everyone would make a full recovery, and another shinobi was added to the ranks. The healing of Kimimaro had taken a bit longer than she would have liked, considering this was the _second_ case of the illness she’d healed, but went smoothly all the same. Now, two weeks after the rescue mission, Team Twelve, Shikamaru, and the three sand shinobi that had come to assist them stood in her office. Terra and Kimimaro still looked a little on the battered side, as neither was quite finished healing yet, but they were able to come to the official debriefing. Terra’s healing abilities had finally kicked back in earlier this morning, healing his broken legs in a matter of minutes.

“I’m glad that everything turned out alright. Congratulations on your first success as a platoon leader Shikamaru.” Tsunade nodded to the spiky haired brunette, who muttered something under his breath, and turned to the three Sand shinobi, “And thank you for your help, it was greatly appreciated. As is your silence on the matter of Team Twelve.” The three siblings nodded silently, though the blonde, Temari, shot a grin at Shikamaru, who bristled, “Finally, I’m proud to reinstate Team Twelve as an active roster team, as well as add another member to the team.” Kimimaro shied away slightly as the attention of the whole room was focused on him, only to be distracted as Terra stepped up and handed him a Chunin vest along with a heavy black cloak, identical to Itachi’s. The Kaguya had scrapped the kimono-like top he had worn as one of Orochimaru’s guards, instead opting for a sleeveless blue-grey shirt that was loose enough for him to pull off easily, dark pants, sandals and fingerless gloves. He had kept his hair in the asymmetrical configuration, and his pants had concealed slits over the areas he typically extended bones from.

“I never said this before,” the Uchiha said quietly with a grin, “but thank you. You kept me sane in there. For a while, I thought I wouldn’t make it through, but you kept me grounded Kimimaro.” Haku stepped forward, handing the Kaguya a mask. It had the same design as the rest of Team Twelve’s masks, but it was like Terra’s in that the base color was dark red and the spiral was a different color, in this case dark green.

“Thanks, for bringing him back.” Haku murmured. For a long moment, Kimimaro stared at the proffered items, then, slowly, he reached out with trembling fingers to slip on the Chunin vest. He then took the cloak and mask and bowed deeply to both teens and Tsunade.

“Thank you, for giving me a new purpose in life, and accepting me onto your team.” The bone user replied humbly. Almost instantly after the words had been spoken, the door slammed open. Everyone in the room turned to see Tenten in the doorway, breathing heavily and staring at Terra. The Uchiha in question stared back, eyes wide as he saw the weapons’ mistress. In a flash, the brunette was across the room, plowing into Terra and hugging him fiercely. The force of Tenten’s tackle knocked Terra over with a yelp and he barely managed to catch himself on Tsunade’s desk.

“Tenten…you…I just…I got-” Tenten didn’t let the pyromancer form a complete sentence, instead gripping his collar in both hands and yanking him down to kiss him. For a moment, Terra flailed wildly, then he calmed and rested his hands hesitantly on Tenten’s shoulders. The others in the room, aside from Temari, were just getting uncomfortable when the pair came up for air after several seconds.

“You are in big trouble for scaring me like that.” Tenten said fiercely, stabbing a finger in Terra’s chest, “Training Ground sixteen, tomorrow at ten. I’m going to kick your ass for making me worry, and then you’re taking me to lunch.” The Uchiha gaped, but nodded numbly. Tenten hugged him again, then bowed in apology to Tsunade and hurried from the office.

“Well,” Temari said after a few awkward moments, “that went well.” Terra was still gazing dazedly after the brunette, and didn’t answer. Kimimaro, who’d been ready to attack Tenten until he’d realized she was hugging Terra, retracted the bones from his palms and stood down. Itachi was looking between the door and Terra, a raised eyebrow his only show of emotion. Haku was looking amusedly at Terra.

“Well, I can see why you asked me ‘Why would I do that?’ when I asked about the date.” The ice-user finally said, “It’s obvious who wears the pants in _this_ relationship.” That snapped Terra out of his stupor, and he glared at Haku.

“Hey! I didn’t know she was _that_ interested!”

“It was fairly obvious.” Itachi interjected, “Especially at the festival before we left for the Land of Snow. She was a wreck after I told her about your supposed demise.” Terra stared at his cousin, then looked back at the door. Temari shook her head.

“Men.” She said with a groan, rolling her eyes and looking pointedly at the back of Shikamaru’s head, who wasn’t really paying attention to anything at the moment.

{[\|/]}               {[/|\\]}               {[/|\\]}

            Terra’s spar with Tenten went well, as did the lunch afterwards. Terra was then dragged to Tenten’s house to apologize to her parents for the grievances. The weapons mistress had flatly told Terra that he better be ready to take her on more dates because they were a couple now. Meanwhile, Haku was getting back into the swing of things. He’d asked to spar with Itachi, and the older teen had complied. Thankfully, Haku wasn’t too far off his mark and with the way he and Terra trained, it would be a piece of cake to get back up to speed. However, there was one problem that resulted from the mission that brought Terra and Kimimaro back to the village. Sasuke was still in the hospital, though not so much for wounds suffered, though he had those too, he was there for the mental stress. Naruto and Sasuke had fought viciously in the Valley of the End, which had been more fitting than either Genin realized. Sasuke, driven by the madness brought on by the pill, had nearly killed Naruto, who’d also pushed himself too far and unleashed some kind of chakra that had an acidic effect on him. The pill had finally worn off, just after their last meeting of blows, and Sasuke had freaked, thinking he’d killed Naruto. Itachi had taken one look at his brother after the younger had woken up in the hospital, then quickly cast a sleeping jutsu on him. According to Itachi, the grief brought on by Sasuke’s thinking that he’d killed his best friend had activated his Mangekyō Sharingan. Terra, rather than acting surprised and asking what that was, had cocked his head to the side, blinked, and said, “Oh, that’s what it’s called?”. That induced a flurry of activity as it had been previously unknown that Terra had acquired the second stage of the Sharingan. Itachi, who was the most knowledgeable on the subject, was consulted by Tsunade and Shizune, as it became quite obvious what the main detrimental effect of the powerful Dōjutsu was.

{[\|/]}               {[/|\\]}               {[/|\\]}

            The three Uchiha stood in the Hokage’s office. They had made sure that the room was free of listening devices and the Hokage had dismissed her ANBU guards for this meeting. The fact that Itachi was back in the village was a close kept secret of the people Tsunade trusted above even her ANBU, Terra’s presence being in the same category. The blonde woman was looking over a print-out that Shizune had brought her. Terra was fidgeting, not ever being one to stand still, and his restlessness was effecting his cousins, even if it was only them occasionally looking over at him to see what the problem was. Finally, Tsunade lowered the report to her desk and sighed heavily.

“As far as I can see, the first stage Sharingan doesn’t put nearly as much of a strain on the eyes as the Mangekyō does. It was, as it seems, to be used as a trump card, and sparingly at that.” The blonde Sannin said seriously, half glaring at Itachi, who had a bad habit of leaving his active.

“So, as long as we refrain from using it excessively, our eyes won’t deteriorate too quickly.” Sasuke inferred, biting down on the smirk that threatened to cross his face. He had seen the glare. Tsunade nodded, eyeing the snickering Terra, who had also noticed the glare that had been sent at his cousin.

“If it comes down to it, from what Itachi’s told me, it seems that transplanting another’s Mangekyō Sharingan would rectify the damage. This of course, would be a fairly easy procedure and each of you would be able to function again within a few days.” She continued.

“What about Kakashi?” Terra asked, drawing attention to himself now that he’d calmed down, “I don’t know about you guys, but he’s copied more jutsu than I have, and I’m born with the Sharingan. I’d say he’s got every indication of being able to gain Mangekyō. Should we wait for him to develop it as well?” Itachi, Sasuke, and Tsunade stared at the teen, “What?”

“You never did say how you developed your Mangekyō Sharingan.” Itachi mused. Terra looked sheepish.

“Well…it was kind of lame, compared to you two. I got backed into a corner on one mission with Haku and Zabuza, and was pretty sure that I wasn’t going to make it. I heard one of my opponents say something about releasing the explosives, and I was so worried about Haku and Zabuza, and angry at our opponents, I didn’t realize until after I’d done it that they were all burning in black fire.” The pyromancer shrugged, “That’s all there is to it.” Tsunade shook her head, not for the first time wondering how this boy was an Uchiha, and turned to the other two in the room.

“I agree with Terra, we’ll wait a few years to see if Kakashi has the ability, and if not, we’ll do the surgery. That’s all I had to discuss with you today. You’re dismissed.” The brothers nodded and turned.

“Lady Tsunade,” Terra spoke again, sounding serious for once, “I have another issue we need to address.” That made his cousins turn back from the door.

“Yes?” Tsunade prompted. Terra brought a hand up to the right side of his neck, right below his ear, and frowned.

“The Curse Marks.” He said simply. Almost on cue, Sasuke raised a hand to his own curse mark.

“Yes, that is a problem.” Tsunade wove her fingers together and rested her elbows on the desk top, “The more you use it, as Kimimaro says, the more it eats away at you.”

“However, the urges it picks at grow stronger if it isn’t used.” Terra added, glancing at Sasuke, “Kimimaro knows that his limit on not using it is about a month, and he’s got ten minutes before it really starts to eat at him. He asked me yesterday if I would be willing to spar with him with my curse mark released, so he could get his back under control. The only way to know how it will effect us and how long we can go is to test our limits before we get into the middle of a battle and start being unable to tell friend from foe.” Tsunade nodded.

“Alright, I’ll set aside Training Ground forty for you to use after team practices. I suggest leaving several days between spars for your bodies to recuperate.” Terra and Sasuke exchanged glances and nodded in agreement, “I’ll also see about getting Jiraiya to look at each of your Curse Marks and come up with a seal to completely suppress it or even remove it. Anko is someone you all might think about talking to as well. Though her’s was never ‘upgraded’ so to speak, she’s lived with it for a long time.” The two Uchiha nodded, then Terra turned and waved jauntily at them over his shoulder.

“See you later Sasuke!” Terra called as he left before the brothers, who knew he had a date with Tenten later.

{[\|/]}

            Sasuke and Terra stood in the training ground Tsunade had designated for their training. Terra was taking the moment to stare up at the sky, half glaring, half pouting at the result he saw. Sasuke raised an eyebrow in amusement, knowing that whatever was making his cousin act like that would be, at least in part, entertaining.

“What’s up?” he asked. Terra’s frown deepened, and he narrowed his eyes against the rain that was coming down in sheets around them. It was getting to the end of January, and that always brought cold showers to Konoha.

“Well, besides the sky?” Sasuke coughed to cover a laugh at his older cousin’s words, “The fact that of course it would rain today.” The older Uchiha continued with a groan. Then he glanced to the far side of the training field. Itachi, Haku, and Kimimaro waited there, in case the two Uchiha’s spar got out of hand. Itachi and Kimimaro were both wearing their cloaks and masks, to keep any onlookers from recognizing them.

“Well, we’ve certainly got an audience.” Sasuke muttered. Terra nodded, having also sensed the other chakra signatures around the field. It would seem that every team of Sasuke’s year was represented, though not everyone of each team was present, as well as Lee and Tenten, and had showed up to watch the spar.

“Better get on with it then.” Terra replied, nodding to Sasuke. The younger nodded and grimaced as he let go of the power he usually kept heavily in check. Flame like marks spread quickly over his skin, morphing it into the grey that was part of his transformation. Terra raised an eyebrow as strange wings that looked like hands erupted from his cousin’s back.

“Wow, you get a fairly descent transformation.” Terra griped.

“Get on with it!” Sasuke growled, making Terra stiffen. The aggression from his cousin wasn’t what made him tense in unease though. He knew that was the main emotion that was stoked by the Curse Marks, and it was only magnified by their secondary forms.

“Wait…” the pyromancer shook his head, “you’re coherent?” Sasuke’s blank look was enough of an answer for Terra, “Man, I hope the others can keep me under wraps, I’m not the most stable after I release.” Terra reached up and pulled the band from his hair, letting the dark strands fan behind him for a moment in the wind before the rain plastered them to his neck and back.

“Is that required?” Sasuke asked blithely.

“No,” was the reply, “but I really don’t want to have to start buying whole packs every few days. I go through them enough as it is.” The mark under the eighteen year old’s ear began to burn red, then spread over his arms and torso, showing at his hands for just a moment before it spread to turn his skin the same greyish-brown of fired clay.

{[\|/]}

            Tenten watched with wide eyes as Terra began to change. First was his skin, then his hair began to lighten before it burst into white-hot flames, followed by his clothes. Terra began to glow from within, and fire licked briefly over his exposed skin. Tendrils of white-hot fire formed, extending from his elbows, knees, the back of his neck, and four from the center of his back, looking like emaciated wings. Terra had shifted, so he was crouched closer to the ground and looked ready to spring. Suddenly, his head snapped up and Tenten gasped, seeing the pairs of black tear-shaped marks under each of his eyes, both blazing with the Sharingan. Even from their positions away from the two sparring Uchiha, Tenten was sure everyone could hear the hissing as raindrops impacted and became steam around Terra.

“That is quite scary.” Lee murmured, “It _is_ better they learn to control themselves in these forms now, rather then in the middle of a battle, but I don’t know if this is such a good idea though. Terra seems different, less controlled, than any of the others I’ve seen in the secondary stage.” Tenten didn’t reply, couldn’t bring herself to agree with Lee. Neji was doing some training with his uncle today, and couldn’t come, though he did wish to be told about it later. They really needed to tell their teammate about Terra’s return too. The pyromancer in question had just lunged at Sasuke, who was defending himself, but trying to ask his cousin if he was alright. He wasn’t getting any responses besides feral growls.

{[\|/]}

            Itachi glanced at his watch, having been timing the two fighters so they didn’t totally overtax themselves. It was going on five minutes now. Though Sasuke was showing signs of tiring, Terra was still fighting just as ferociously as in the beginning. Itachi was just about to call a halt when Sasuke stumbled, his transformation receding. Terra, however, didn’t even pause. There was a flash on either side of Itachi before he even had time to fully comprehend what he was seeing, and suddenly Haku was back, with the exhausted Sasuke, and Kimimaro, his Curse Mark spreading rapidly, was charging towards Terra.

“Terra!” the bone user barked in an authoritative voice, “Stand down!” Terra only paused for a moment, then one of his ropes of fire grabbed Kimimaro and threw him back. Itachi surged forward, own Sharingan spinning, and drew a kunai.

“Terra!” red eyes locked with red and Itachi mentally recoiled from shock. Terra was there yes, but it was like something had shut off everything but the ‘fight’ tendencies in his brain. There was no other thoughts and no other activities but those required to keep the body alive. Itachi just dodged another tendril of fire, retreating back.

“Itachi?” Haku asked, keeping an eye on his friend, who was getting ready to charge them.

“No good.” Itachi said quietly, “We’re going to have to knock him out. He’s-” Itachi’s quiet intake was enough for the others to look up, only to see Terra charging to the left.

“Run!” Haku shouted to whoever was watching from the bushes. Lee darted towards the group of Chunin, while Tenten hesitated and was left to run to the other end of the field. Terra chased her, running low to the ground.

“Terra, no!” the brunette shouted, skidding to a halt and turning. She held up her hands in a ‘stop’ position, but Terra didn’t seem to recognize it.

“Tenten!” Lee shouted, beginning to run forward. Itachi stayed back with his brother, watching as most of the people who had been observing came out of the bushes. Naruto rushed towards Tenten and Terra, while Shino and Shikamaru joined the two Uchiha.

{[\|/]}

            Haku grit his teeth as he ran towards Terra and Tenten. The pyromancer was almost upon her, and if someone didn’t get there in time, it was likely that she would get hurt. Terra leapt, flying towards Tenten, tackling her to the ground. Haku poured on as much speed as he could, only to skid to a stop, staring. He had just got close enough to see what was going on, and felt his mouth drop open. Terra was crouched to the side of Tenten, nuzzling her hand like a cat. The girl in question was still in shock from the abrupt turn of events, but was complying, hesitantly petting her boyfriend. She was obviously shocked, as was everyone else who had come to her ‘rescue’, because the flames didn’t burn her. Abruptly, Terra’s flames seemed to go out, and he collapsed to the side, Curse Mark retreating. Tenten sat up, staring at Terra with wide and worried eyes. Almost immediately, Terra opened his eyes again, saw Tenten and sat up, then looked away, not meeting the brunette’s eyes.

“Sorry.” Terra muttered, then disappeared in a burst of flame. Haku’s eyes narrowed at the last place he’d seen his friend, but he went about making sure that Tenten was alright. The other Genin were worried, asking the weapons’ mistress if she was alright, despite her continuous insistences that she was fine.

{[\|/]}               {[/|\\]}               {[/|\\]}

            The weather was finally beginning to get warm again, now that February had arrived. The winters in the Land of Fire were very short, lasting from about mid-November to the end of January on average, and it hardly ever snowed. That didn’t slow the missions coming in though, nor did it detract from today especially. February fourteenth. Tenten frowned slightly as she looked up at the building before her. Terra had been avoiding her. He’d passed it off on missions and training, but she knew better. He’d always made time before, but now he never seemed to have time. Terra had been acting strangely since that day at Training Ground forty.

Steeling herself with a deep breath, Tenten climbed the stairs. Terra and his teammates shared an apartment on the top floor of this complex, and she knew for a fact that Terra was there right now. She’d asked for Haku’s help in cornering the pyromancer, and he’d told her that they had the day off and that Terra had been ordered to stay at home because he’d overtaxed himself during their last mission. Tenten gripped the strap of the bag she held more tightly with one hand as she finally made it to the fifth floor. She was surprised, however, to see Terra at the end of the hallway, which was open at both ends to balconies that wrapped around the ends of building’s exterior on this floor. He had his back to her and was…doing laundry? Tenten raised an eyebrow, stifling a laugh as she approached quietly, seeing that the pyromancer was indeed hanging laundry on a clothes line. He had rigged a pulley system that disappeared into the thicket of trees that nearly covered this end of the building, and was hanging wet clothes and other things on the line, pulling every so often to make a free space.

“I didn’t think you were big on home crafts.” Tenten said quietly. Terra jumped a mile, whirling around and brandishing the wet dishtowel he’d been about to hang. He froze when he saw her. It was all the weapons mistress could do to keep from laughing at his weapon of choice.

“Ah, well…uh, hi Tenten.” The pyromancer murmured, not meeting her eyes. Tenten crossed her arms, narrowing her eyes at Terra.

“You’ve been avoiding me.” She said firmly. Terra didn't deny it, only nodded slightly.

“You want to know why?” he asked, and the way he said it implied that she already knew.

“Yes I want to know why! Of course I want to know why!” Tenten shouted. Terra flinched, then deposited the dishtowel in the basket of laundry before leaning back against the balcony railing.

“I thought it was obvious.” He said quietly, still not meeting her gaze. Tenten stilled, hearing the note of depression in his voice that hadn’t been there before, or at least hadn’t been obvious. She knew he was apt to times of depression, Haku too, in fact it seemed that everyone on Team Twelve had issues with depression. Most ninjas at some point in their lives came to a point that their jobs depressed them, but Terra’s, Haku’s, and Kimimaro’s dark thoughts were usually linked to the problems in their pasts, mainly focused on their ‘dismal beginnings’.

“Terra?” the pyromancer caught her wrist, making Tenten realize she’d been reaching out to him. His hand was large and warm, free of callouses and scars thanks to his healing abilities. Even though he was obviously trying to keep distance between them, Terra’s grip was gentle, not attempting to hurt her.

“I…I don’t want you to get hurt.” He finally managed, letting go of her wrist, “I’m dangerous. I’m as dangerous as a mad jinchūriki and I don’t want to hurt anyone. I don't…I don’t want to hurt you.”

_‘So that’s what this is about.’_ Tenten thought, shaking her head.

“Terra. You’re not going to hurt me, or anyone else you care about.” She said quietly, taking a small step forward. He either didn’t notice or didn’t care, because he made no move to stop her.

“And how do you know that? Itachi and Kimimaro couldn’t stop me, who’s to say they’ll even be around next time?” Terra asked with a hollow voice. Tenten felt her heart ache. He was usually so upbeat and sarcastic, seeing him down like this and subsequently pessimistic was disheartening. Tenten raised her hands to gently touch Terra’s face, lifting it slightly so she could see his eyes which were bloodshot with heavy bags underneath. This had obviously been bothering him for the near month that he’d been avoiding her, and he’d lost a lot of sleep over it.

“Terra, you’re a good person.” Tenten murmured, “You’ve done so much good since you came here. You brought _Itachi Uchiha_ back to the village, and Kimimaro too. I’ve spoken with him a lot in these past few weeks, and I know how much you mean to him as a friend. You gave meaning back to his life, helped him see he was capable of being something other than Orochimaru’s tool, showed him he could be a some _body_ , and saved him without any consideration for your own safety.”

“Tenten…” Terra stared at her for a long moment, then surprised her by pulling her into a fierce hug. He muttered something into her shirt, but she didn’t catch it.

“Terra?” Tenten asked, hugging him back slightly. She loved Terra’s hugs, they were always warm, and not just because of his elevated body heat.

“I-I’m sorry!” Terra blurted, burying his face in her shoulder, “I’m so, _so_ sorry! I couldn’t stop it! It’s like the Curse Mark has a mind of its own and I can only watch from the backseat. I was so afraid I was going to hurt you! I was trying to divert it the whole time it- _I_ was chasing you, and I only managed to convey that you were friendly at the last moment. I’m so sorry. I could have hurt you so badly, and there was no way for me to change it.” the pyromancer slid back, looking down dejectedly, “You really should find someone who’s less dangerous to you, and who’s brave enough to face his problems.” Tenten caught his wrist and made him stop moving, looking back at her with the expression of a kicked puppy.

“I’ve never met a braver person in my life,” Tenten replied quietly, “and it’s all because you _protect_ those who are close to you. I don’t think you would ever really hurt anyone who was your friend or comrade while you’re using the Curse Mark, you care too much. Even though you scared me, you still didn’t hurt me. I was more concerned for you, because I know that you basically had to surrender control for that power. I know how much that scares you, especially after so long of having no control at all.” She looked defiantly up at him, “I _know_ you can control it, even if only slightly. I also know you would only use that power in emergencies.” The brunette shook Terra’s arm slightly, “There is _no one_ , I’d rather have for a boyfriend than you Terra. You’re strong, sensitive when you need to be, understanding, funny, and you’re smarter than you let on a lot of the time. You don’t back down from challenges, and you stick by those who matter to you.” She moved closer, “And not to mention, you’re one _hell_ of a kisser.”

{[\|/]}  

            Haku crested the top of the stairs and looked up, only to immediately dart to the side and hide out of view of the hallway. As Kimimaro and Itachi caught up, he pulled them over too, hushing Kimimaro’s question of what was going on. Silently, he pointed to the hallway, then backed up as his teammates looked around the corner. Itachi straightened, rolling his eyes and shaking his head while Kimimaro continued to stare with his mouth open slightly.

“Might want to close your mouth before you catch a fly Kimimaro.” Haku teased, then gestured to the pair at the other end of the hall, “How long do you think it’ll take them to come up for air?”

“Judging by the last time we know of them doing this, several more moments.” Itachi mused.

{[\|/]}

            The click of a door closing made them jump, and they broke apart to look around. Terra narrowed his eyes at the nearest door on the left, and he made a rude hand gesture before turning and grabbing some laundry from the basket.

“Asshole.” He muttered. Tenten raised an eyebrow.

“Who is?” she asked.

“Haku, I can sense that his chakra is closest to the door of our apartment and he’s always looking to make me feel uncomfortable.” Terra’s face reddened slightly, which Tenten found endearing.

“Well, we were getting low on air anyways.” She stuck her tongue out at the door, then turned back to Terra, “Want some help?” Terra nodded, and the laundry was hung in no time. Afterwards, he asked if she wanted to meet for dinner later, which she agreed, handing him the bag she’d brought before running off to her team’s training session, calling over her shoulder that she’d be ready by eight. Terra waved dazedly as she disappeared, then moved numbly into his apartment. Which was a mistake.

“Oh, looks like someone’s definitely going to have to spend a paycheck for White Day.” Haku jibed. Terra jumped, having not realized that he’d taken the contents of the bag out until Haku pulled them away.

“Hey! Give that back, Haku!” Terra shouted, lunging forward and tackling his best friend. From the couch, Itachi and Kimimaro watched the friends wrestle, shaking their heads.

“You’d think they were five from the way they act.” Kimimaro mused. Itachi nodded, catching the packet of chocolate that had gone flying from Haku’s hand. He examined it, finding it to be a fairly expensive brand that was very hard to get in the Land of Fire. Terra, who had a sweet tooth to rival Itachi’s, was certain to enjoy them.

“Well, at least she knows what to get.” Itachi said, showing the package to Kimimaro. The bone user nodded in approval.

“I know where you sleep!” Haku shouted, having been burned when Terra lost a little of his control. Terra, who was standing now, looked at him flatly.

“Yeah, right across from you.” He deadpanned. The pyromancer marched over and snatched the chocolate from Itachi, who wasn’t really holding it tightly, and left the room.

“That might have been unnecessary, Haku.” Itachi said in a flat voice. Haku waved him off.

“He knows I’m teasing. Besides, I approve of Tenten, she’s got enough backbone to drag Terra out of his emo corner when he decides to go into it.” Itachi and Kimimaro exchanged glances, both thinking that their two other teammates were crazy, “Now we’ve just got to find significant others for you two!”

“Just remember that _you’re_ not the one who shares a room with him.” Kimimaro pointed out. They’d done some shuffling of rooms, once Kimimaro had joined their team and now Kimimaro shared a room with Terra, the only one he was really comfortable with as of yet. Haku laughed, brushing off the statement, and went to make lunch.

{[\|/]}

            The Utau Furūto was one of the best restaurants in Konoha, though not if you were talking to one Naruto Uzumaki. Terra had managed to get a reservation for the night, which was a miracle in and of itself as it was an incredibly popular place too. However, he’d managed it.

“Okay, so I’m about to throw my chakrams at the practice dummy, and this giant cleaver comes out of nowhere and I have to duck! I roll away and get to my feet, expecting to see an enemy, only it’s Haku. He’s weaving all over the place and muttering about giving back his credenza. Of course, we’ve never had a credenza, not to mention I’ve got no idea what he’s talking about, but he won’t let up. Finally, I manage to knock him out without hurting him and Zabuza yells from the other room, asking where his sake’s gone. We were only fourteen and twelve, so I only knew about getting drunk, not what went into it. It turned out that Haku had found it and thought it was water. Having just finished his own training session, he was thirsty, so he drank it all in one go. Zabuza drank the really heavy stuff, so it was enough to throw him for a loop.” Tenten collapsed against the table, laughing so hard she was crying. Terra chuckled, taking a drink of water as he watched her with his dark eyes.

“Oh, I’m never going to let him live it down.” Tenten snickered, finally catching her breath, “That’s as bad as Lee and his Loopy Fist Taijutsu.” Terra laughed at the insinuation, able to well imagine the outcome of that.

“I can image.” He glanced at his watch, “Well, it’s getting late. We should probably go.”

“Alright.” Tenten nodded, getting up as Terra left money for their meal and a tip on the table. He then extended his arm.

“Shall I escort you to your home, milady?” he asked in a faux voice. Tenten laughed again, but slipped her arm through his. As they walked through the darkened streets of Konoha, Tenten couldn’t help but beam. She had Terra back, and he was still the same as before. Tenten had caught some of the women in the restaurant looking at her with jealousy, and she hadn’t been able to squash her satisfied grin when she saw them. She knew Terra was good looking, and that was all most girls seemed to care about, so she reveled in being able to take another fish away from the vultures. It was even better that Terra looked good on the inside too. All in all, he was an amazing guy, and he was strong to boot. He also didn’t expect her to just worship him, and knew she could take care of herself. Though she wasn’t opposed to him coming to her rescue once in a while. Not to mention he was very endearing when he was reading, as he still struggled a bit with that skill. Tenten giggled quietly when she recalled the image of Terra sticking his tongue out as he read, as if that would help him concentrate better.

            Terra walked her right up to her door, and kissed her hand in farewell. Tenten smiled brightly, laughing as she pulled him into a hug and kissed him. Terra replied back with a wolfish grin, then kissed her back sweetly. For all his tough exterior, he was quite sensitive to her and didn't come across as overbearing.

“Thanks.” Tenten said as they finally broke apart, “I had a great time tonight.” Terra nodded, then disappeared in a flash of flame, leaving three roses behind in her hand, one orange, one dark red, and one lavender. The weapons’ mistress blushed, recognizing the meaning behind them from her konoichi classes in the academy, then slipped inside her home, eager to put the flowers in water.

{[\|/]}               {[/|\\]}               {[/|\\]}

            In Konoha, it was customary for teams, especially Chunin and higher teams, to have assigned training grounds for team practices so that the new Genin would know where to avoid accidental, possibly lethal encounters. They were allowed to go to others of course, but most of the time, they had a specific stomping ground they preferred to traverse. Training Ground twelve was a strange place. There was a fence around it, which made it difficult for anyone without a key to get in, simply because of the height. It was rumored to be a breeding ground for the giant tigers that lurked in Training Ground forty-four, aka: the Forest of Death. The trees and undergrowth grew thick and plentiful, but none rose above the fence, except for one tree at the very center of the forty-five meter enclosure. What was unknown, was that it _was_ actually assigned to Team Twelve, and the tigers were a myth to keep nosey onlookers out. Team Twelve did all their team practices in the safety of their Training Ground, so that Itachi, and now Kimimaro and Terra, could move freely and without their disguises.

            Kimimaro dodged, flipping over a rock and pushing off the stone at the apex of his jump. He dodged a barrage of senbon, then twisted to fire several of his distal phalanges at the dark head he could see preparing to throw a brace of kunai at him.

“Digital Shrapnel!” he called, and the red-eyed teammate looked up just in time to dodge.

“Don't turn your back!” a shout from behind him made him turn, forming an arm guard from bone and barely managing to block the flaming sword that swept down at him. He was pushed back, and seeing the ground, flipped over backwards, clearing the way for the blast of ice to slam into his attacker, who yelped and fell to the ground. Kimimaro tightened his grip on his bone sword, before slashing at the closest figure, realizing at the last second it was getting ready to explode. He made the jump away easily, and looked up to see the real Itachi bearing down on him with a ninjato. Kimimaro parried the blow, spinning to the side and bringing his own sword around to bear, only to be blocked. He and the Uchiha moved back and forth on the forest floor for a few moments, stressing each other’s defenses and offences. Kimimaro was marveling over his ability to breathe deeply without dissolving into coughing fits, and found his new health as exhilarating as the fight itself.

“Can’t catch me!” Terra called, leaping through the branches.

“Yeah right, you’re always slower than me!” was Haku’s reply, and he put on a burst of speed to tag his friend in the shoulder with an ice covered hand. Only for the clone to explode in a ball of fire. Haku had sensed it at the last moment, throwing up a barrier of ice to ward off the fire. The soaked teen turned around as a flash of black and grey flew past, and Terra appeared, swinging around the bottom of a tree branch before coming up into a hand stand on top of it. Haku rolled his eyes at his long-time friend, shaking his head at the other’s antics. Terra looked at him, bending his neck at an awkward angle to do so, and stuck his tongue out.

“You might wanna duck.” Terra said blithely, but Haku immediately acted, loosening his chakra grip and dropping to the bottom side of his branch. Kimimaro whirled past, firing a salvo of his Digital Shrapnel at the ice-user as he passed, before swinging his sword at Terra, who pushed himself into the air and flipped out of reach. Haku dodged the shrapnel, then engaged Itachi, who’d been right on Kimimaro's tail.

“Were you two getting bored or something?” Haku asked as he caught Itachi’s wrist for a moment before ducking under it and pulling his older teammate off balance. At least, that’s what the move was supposed to do, it simply but Itachi in a position to knee him in the back. Haku threw more momentum into the move and somersaulted to his feet, balancing on the end of the branch with chakra. A ghost of a smirk whisked across Itachi’s face.

“You two looked too at ease.” Was the reply. Itachi had begun to display a snarky facet to himself about a month after they’d been released from the hospital upon first arriving back at Konoha after ‘acquiring’ him. It was only fed by Terra’s own sarcastic personality. Haku rolled his eyes and parried another blow from Itachi’s ninjato with the back of his hand, which was coated in ice.

“Hey guys!” Terra’s voice was serious, which in itself was a rarity, so the two turned and looked down, seeing Terra pointing up. Kimimaro stood beside him with an expression on his face that could pass for worry on someone else. Looking up, Itachi and Haku saw a hawk circling in the sky.

“A meeting?” Itachi mused, “I wonder what’s wrong.” Haku shook his head, letting the ice he’d coated his arms with melt and pocketing his senbon.

“Best we go find out.” The ice-user replied quietly.

{[\|/]}

            Sasuke looked up, having just threw a volley of kunai at his targets. He and Sakura were working on their aim, while Naruto was running Taijutsu drills, as the blonde could essentially run about a dozen spars at once. The Uchiha’s dark eyes squinted against the sun, but he still saw the bird circling overhead. All Leaf shinobi were trained to recognize certain flight patterns of the birds that sent messages over the village. This one was calling for a meeting of certain teams.

“Sasuke?” Sakura’s voice was questioning, asking him for the reason why he’d stopped without actually voicing it. The team camaraderie since his failed kidnapping has been high, each banding together with the rest to become stronger so something like that would never happen again. Sasuke brought his eyes down to look at Sakura, taking in her short hair, and not for the first time. He approved of the haircut. She looked better, in his opinion, and it was much more practical.

“The Hokage is calling a meeting of certain teams.” He answered finally, “Ours included.” Sakura raised an eyebrow.

“Teams? Must be a fairly important mission. And without Kakashi-sensei?” Sasuke nodded, then called over to Naruto, gathering up his kunai as he did. They all finished cleaning up before heading to the Hokage tower.

{[\|/]}

            Shino was the first to notice the hawk, calling Kiba and Hinata’s attention to it. The team had been on their way back from training, having gotten started early that morning they were quitting for lunch. Akamaru barked from his position on Kiba’s head. The Inuzuka nodded in agreement with whatever his partner had said.

“Akamaru’s got it right, talk about bad timing.” Kiba groaned. Hinata smiled slightly, but didn’t say anything. Shino pointed at the circling bird again.

“We’re not the only team being summoned.” He said tonelessly, “Naruto’s team, and a few others are being called as well.”

“N-Naruto?” Hinata stammered. Kiba and Shino shared a look over Hinata’s head. They’d noticed her crush on the blonde quite some time ago, kinda hard to miss it really, and weren’t sure how to proceed really. Kiba always seemed to put his foot in his mouth when it came to talking to girls, and Shino found it illogical to pine after a single person to the point of being too nervous to talk to them. Rather, that’s what he _said_.

“It would seem so.” Shino finally replied.

“We better go see what’s the deal.” Kiba grumbled, “Then we can go for lunch.”

{[\|/]}

            Shikamaru was amazed that he and the recently healed Chōji had managed to talk Ino into letting them watch clouds before getting to training. Usually the bossy blonde was raring to go. They’d decided early on in their career as a team that they would practice in the afternoons, which made everyone happy as Ino usually had the morning shifts while working at her parents’ shop, and Asuma was almost as lazy as Shikamaru. The idle Chunin squinted as the sunlight flickered, looking past his shading hand to see a hawk circling in the sky above them. He groaned as he recognized the pattern.

“Shikamaru?” Chōji asked. The Chunin in question pointed.

“We’re being summoned,” Shikamaru muttered, “what a drag. Now we’ve gotta go find Ino.” Chōji laughed slightly, amused by his friends grumblings.

{[\|/]}

            _Thunk…… Thunk. Thud. Thud. Wham._ The sound of weapons hitting wood ceased, and was replaced by the sounds of a far off spar. Tenten looked over her shoulder, shaking her head at her teammates as they continued trying to pound each other into pulp. Lee and Neji were going at their Taijutsu only fight with the kind of reckless abandon that all boys seemed to have, especially those that were best friends. Lee was spouting his spiel on the ‘Fires of Youth’, while Neji just shook his head in exasperation, having stopped going on and on about fate after the Chunin exams last fall. It was nice not to hear him constantly shooting people down. Lee was bad enough on his own to make up for it though. Tenten sighed at their fight, glad to see that, though Neji had talked a big game before, he and Lee were still fairly evenly matched. Neji lost a lot of his power when he didn’t use his chakra, which he wasn’t to keep from injuring Lee, and, despite his protests, Lee _was_ still recovering. Tenten looked up, just to check the time via the position of the sun, but paused upon seeing the hawk circling above the tree line. She watched it for a moment, before the display clicked.

“Hey guys!” Tenten called as she ran forward, “We’re being summoned for a meeting!” The spar stopped immediately, for once. Usually she had to cajole both boys to stop for at least fifteen minutes.

“The Hokage is summoning us?” Neji asked, looking for the hawk. Tenten nodded and pointed at the bird, and both her teammates turned to look at it.

“Well, let us go!” Lee exclaimed, dashing towards the path that led back to the main part of the village. Tenten and Neji exchanged eye rolls at the exuberance of their teammate, but followed anyway.

_‘I wonder if Terra’s team is coming too.’_ Tenten mused as she summoned all her weapons back to her before storing them in their respective scrolls. She was a little disappointed that Terra hadn’t re-ordered his chakrams, but understood that he was tired of getting them broken or stolen, and needed a break, pun not intended. Besides, the next weapon he was designing was just as cool, if not a little ungainly.

Unbeknownst to Tenten, Neji was musing on her improved mood, not to mention aim and work ethic. Neither Lee or Tenten had thought to tell him about Terra’s return, and it wasn’t made public, as not many people even knew about the teen’s existence, more to do with controlling the public, as well as Terra and Itachi’s safety, than anything else. Neji couldn’t figure out why his teammate was so happy all of a sudden, and wondered blithely if she’d found another boyfriend, which was worrying so soon after Terra’s death. Neji’s eyes narrowed suspiciously at Tenten’s back, but he didn’t comment, preferring to keep his comments to himself for now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo….yeah, I totally alluded to Kimimaro having {spoiler alert} Itachi’s illness, which we hear about in Shippuden {end spoiler alert}.


	4. Beginnings and Endings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Terra is dead. Haku is comatose in the hospital. Itachi is being stretched thin over the village with trivial missions. However, things are looking up for Team Seven, but evil is stirring and there's no stopping the cogs of the great machine of war as darkness blooms on the horizon. Snakes will slither, clouds will drip blood, and the earth will shake. Shake, move, and reveal...
> 
>  
> 
> Terra died in the Land of Snow...or did he? The truth unravels and desperate escapes ensue. Can life continue, or will relationships crumble away in the face of new adversity. It's bad enough that Terra and Tenten were separated by the veil of death, but what else could tear them apart? Team Twelve is back in business, with a new face coming to the ranks, and missions waiting in the wings. So begins the Second Book of the Fire and Ice Series: Melted Snow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SORRY!!!! I forgot to get online!

They weren't in the usual mission's briefing room, or Tsunade's office, there were too many people for that. The blonde Hokage stood and surveyed them all, and the quiet murmurings died.

“I have called you all here for a very serious, very dangerous matter. We have news of the potential whereabouts of a group of rogue ninja that have been terrorizing the Land of Tea. Their leader, who is more a tactical mind than anything else, has contacted a merchant based here in Konoha that is known for dealing in questionable practices. The leader wishes to make a deal with him for certain items, most of which are on the black market.”

“So, are we going to track down this merchant?” Shikamaru asked. Tsunade shook her head.

“No, the merchant doesn’t truly exist. He’s a cover story we created to catch the rogue’s attention. Now, we need someone to go, get inside their hideaway, learn who else they’ve contacted, and generally get as much information as possible.”

“Lady Hokage, before we continue, would it not be best to inform the others who we are?” one of the cloaked figures near the door asked, the one wearing a white mask decorated by a red spiral. Tsunade nodded. The others in the room had been giving the cloaked and masked figures strange looks for a while now.

“Good point.” She directed a stern gaze on the teens gathered in the office, “The identities of these four are kept under wraps for their own safety, as well as the security of their team. Team Twelve is a strike team with near ANBU efficiency, and their knowledge on two of our major enemies needs to be protected. Some of you already know who at least some of them are, and others will recognize them. Just know that all four of these shinobi are loyal to Konoha.” Tsunade nodded at the four masked and cloaked figures, who reached up and pushed their masks back. Haku was the first revealed, making many of the Genin, and one Chunin, blink in recognition. The next caused more of an uproar.

“Terra?” Neji asked in confusion. His gaze flicked to Tenten, who was facepalming.

“We totally forgot to tell Neji!” she groaned. The Hyūga rolled his eyes, shaking his head as Lee began going on about punishing himself with insane tasks.

“Yeah…for those of you who don’t know already, I’m not dead. It was a close call for a bit there though.” Terra said lightly, scratching the back of his head.

“That is definitely a surprise.” Kiba muttered. Terra and Haku turned to their last two teammates. Itachi pushed up his mask next, having thrown a Genjutsu over his skin mask so he would appear as himself.

“I am Itachi Uchiha, Sasuke’s older brother.” The teen explained. Ino seemed to be going as googly-eyed over Itachi as she usually did over Sasuke. Kimimaro finally pushed up his mask, making Naruto and Shikamaru jump.

“You!” Naruto exclaimed. Kimimaro blinked, then looked away, obviously uncomfortable.

“Naruto, leave him alone.” Terra’s tone caught everyone’s attention, “He’s proved himself to be a true Leaf shinobi, and that’s all you really need. He was just following orders, and you can’t fault him for that.” Tsunade let that sink in for a moment, then folded her arms across her chest.

“We need a skilled team to infiltrate the rogue ninja’s hideout. That's why you were called here. There are five teams involved in this mission. Team Seven,” Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto straightened slightly, “Team Eight,” Kiba grinned, while Shino nodded, and Hinata shifted nervously, “Team Ten,” Ino tossed her head arrogantly while Shikamaru yawned and Chōji finished his fourth rice ball, “Team Gai,” Neji and Tenten nodded as Lee made interesting poses, off in his own little world, “and Team Twelve.” Terra and Haku nodded, and then the pyromancer poked his friend in the shoulder. Itachi shook his head at his cousin's antics, and Kimimaro was looking at the two like they were crazy, which was a good possibility.

“So what are we doing, Grandma Tsunade?” Naruto was nearly vibrating, when a minute ago he'd been as bored as Shikamaru looked.

“The team will be split into two groups. The backup group, which is there to ensure that the escape goes smoothly and to lend aid in case the second group, the infiltration group, is discovered. There are five Chunin going on this mission, Shikamaru, you're in charge. We've arranged for the meeting to be in one month. This will be where your group comes in. As the best strategic mind, Shikamaru, you'll take the role of the trade partner. You'll be able to handle things best from the inside. Your host will be expecting a small entourage, so that limited who you could take in the infiltration group. Kiba will be playing as your bodyguard. Sasuke, Neji, Ino and Team Twelve, excluding Kimimaro, will complete the infiltration group.”

“If only Kiba is going to be Shikamaru's bodyguard, what are the rest going to be?” Chōji asked. There was silence for several seconds, then Terra facepalmed.

“Which one of you idiots invented a stable version of the Transformation jutsu that transforms the user into a girl?” He asked around his fingers. Slowly, Naruto raised his hand.

“Why am I not surprised.” Haku muttered, rolling his eyes.

“Wait a minute, if we’ve got four girls, why is only one of them going in the infiltration group?” Sakura asked heatedly.

“Which of you passed _all_ of your Konoichi practical exams?” Tsunade asked flatly. Ino and Hinata raised their hands. Sakura looked sheepish, as she couldn’t raise her hand because she _hadn’t_ passed them all, while Tenten was indifferent, not caring that she hadn’t been quite as ‘womanly’ as she was supposed to be.

“If I had to take a guess,” Terra mused, “I’d say that your temper got the best of you, didn’t it Sakura?” the pink haired Genin nodded, flushing in embarrassment, “And Tenten, you just didn’t give a damn, did ya’?” the weapons’ mistress stuck her tongue out at her boyfriend, who replied in kind.

“In any case, there is your answer.” Tsunade continued, “We need shinobi who can keep their cool, even if approached by undesirable people while undercover. Hinata would be going in the infiltration team, if not for the fact that she is an heiress, and Hiashi has requested she not be put in a compromising position. As such, Neji will fill the last position of the infiltration group.” It was hard to tell who looked more surprised, Neji or Hinata, though Neji’s expression bordered on angrily annoyed, “Ino, you will have to teach them some things, but you will also be there to take the focus off them. You will be one of the main players in this operation.” Ino nodded, glancing around at the group nervously.

“Well, I know _someone_ who won’t be needing any help learning how to act like a girl.” Terra muttered darkly. Haku kicked him in the knee, which made the older teen wobble off balance for a moment.

“I don’t want to hear it.” the ice-user growled.

“I know that these assignments aren’t the most comfortable for you, but they are the best we can do with as delicate of a situation that we have. Naruto, you need to teach your…jutsu, to those in the infiltration group that need to know it. You all have one month to come up with some plans, as well as prepare for the mission, during which you will be off the active duty roster. This mission is an S-Rank mission, but this is the best group we could come up with as our Jonin and most of the Chunin are spread so thin. As such, you all will be getting the amount of pay allotted for this kind of mission, which is quite a lot.” Seeing the grudging acceptance, Tsunade extended one arm out to the side in a slashing motion, “Dismissed!”

{[\|/]}               {[/|\\]}               {[/|\\]}

            It was a nice day, towards at the end of March. The Village Hidden in the Leaves was already getting swelteringly hot during the day, to the point that some less heat tolerant people had to stay indoors most of the day until the balmy night arrived. For this reason, the five squad team of young shinobi held their meeting in one of the dojo’s scattered around the village.

“So, the infiltration squad has learned the jutsu from Naruto?” Shikamaru asked. He may have been the youngest of the Chunin there, but he was certainly the smartest, which was partly the reason Tsunade had given him control of this mission. Another part was that he would be the one doing the diplomatic maneuvers with the other party, and the third was that three of the other Chunin were supposed to remain as anonymous, and one of those three was supposed to be dead.

“Yeah.” Terra remarked with a grimace, “We learned it. Haku, Itachi, and I have been practicing it at home to see how long we can hold it. Sasuke comes over as well.” Shikamaru nodded, turning to Neji, whose mouth twisted as he frowned.

“I’ve been practicing as well, but it is difficult to do so at home.” The Byakugan user turned to Terra and Haku, “Might it be possible for me to also come practice with you?” the pyromancer glanced at his other three housemates. Haku shrugged, while Itachi and Kimimaro nodded.

“Sure, why not?” Terra replied, shaking his head, “You could just stay over until we leave for the mission if you like. We’ve got a pull out couch.” Neji inclined his head.

“I may do that. Thank you for the offer.” He responded.

“What a drag.” Shikamaru sighed, rubbing his temples, “I got the money and mission slip for disguises for this trip from Lady Tsunade. The seven of you that are going in with me have to pick up your kimono’s and other pieces of your disguises later this week. You too, Kiba.” The Inuzuka nodded, waving slightly, “Also, Akamaru will unfortunately have to stay with the backup squad.” When Kiba made to protest, Shikamaru raised his hand to put a stop to it, “It’s not in doubt of his skill, it’s more that he’s too recognizable. Several things about us in the infiltration group are too recognizable, and we’re going to have to hide them. Contacts have been ordered for Neji, and Ino’s teaching Itachi and Terra how to use make up to cover up their facial markings, as well as Terra’s scar. I’m going to have to dye my hair once it gets closer to time, and while we’re in the talks, you’re going to have to hold a transformation jutsu to cover up your clan markings, unless you feel like learning from Ino as well.” Kiba pouted, shaking his head and crossing his arms. Akamaru whined from on top of his owner’s head, feeling his master’s distress.

“We’re all making sacrifices for this mission.” Haku offered quietly.

“Quit moaning about it Kiba, at least you get to stay as a male.” Terra imputed bluntly, crossing his arms and grumbling under his breath.

{[\|/]}

            Neji Hyūga was in a bad mood. He was on his way to spend the remainder of the month at the apartment where Team Twelve lived. That in itself wasn’t the problem. It was that they were all going to go and pick up their disguises from the uniform department later. Thankfully, they were going in the guises of their transformations, so no one would really know it was them, except for any Hyūga they came within range of…or anyone adept at sensing chakra. Neji came out of his musings just in time to keep from running into a wall. He looked up, seeing the apartment building and sighed. Feeling annoyed already, he bypassed the stairs and just used chakra to scale the outside of the building, climbing quickly to the fifth and final floor. Rechecking the paper with an address that Haku had given him, Neji knocked on the door to apartment 521. A second later, Kimimaro opened the door.

“Ah, we were wondering when you would arrive.” The bone user commented, stepping to the side, “Please come in.” Neji nodded politely to the Kaguya and entered. Almost as soon as Kimimaro closed the door, Haku came charging into the room, laughing and holding something tightly. Terra rocketed out of the same hallway not three seconds later, spotted the cryomancer, and made a flying tackle. The item flew out of Haku’s hands, and right into Itachi’s who had raised his hand absently, not looking up from his book, to catch it. Neji could see the object was a sketch book, the cover battered and worn. Haku made a strange whooshing noise as Terra leapt off of him, pushing off of the ice-user’s chest and tackled Itachi, who yelped, much to Neji’s surprise. The pair of eighteen-year-olds landed on the ground and began wrestling, their books laid to the side and forgotten. Terra kept making soft growling noises, like a puppy playing with a pack mate. Finally, after about a minute, Itachi pinned Terra, having used a series of quick pressure point strikes to temporarily disable his cousin’s arms. The two were panting and grinning, barely holding back laughs. Sasuke appeared around the corner of the hallway, eyebrow rising at the scene before him. He looked down at Haku, who was just now getting up, and shook his head.

“You had to take the sketch book.” Sasuke commented, rolling his eyes when Haku showed him his middle finger. Kimimaro noticed Neji’s expression, which was slack-jawed amazement, and smiled slightly.

“Yes, this is what they’re like without their ‘work masks’ on, so to speak.” The bone user said, moving forward and picking up the two books that had been discarded during the last tussle. He handed the novella to Itachi, who was standing, and dropped the sketch book in Terra’s lap, as the pyromancer had already sat up and was beginning to move his arms around. Currently, the only part he had control of was his upper arms, and the rest of his arms were waving around like limp noodles. Apparently, this was entertaining enough to continue waving his arms around, just to see how long the numbness would last.

“Are they always like this?” Neji mused.

“Near about.” Sasuke commented, “Here, you can put your stuff in the hall closet. We’re going to have to leave soon, so hopefully they’ll get their act together.” Neji stared after the younger Genin, marveling how much he’d changed from the Chunin exams. It was strange enough seeing the famed Itachi Uchiha play fighting, but Sasuke was loosening up too from the looks of it. Glancing back at the four in the living room, Neji’s gaze landed on Terra, who was in the midst of punching Haku on the arm, though it was more of a smack at the moment.

“Next time you think it’d be funny to show off my drawings, it better be my design specks to a blacksmith!” the fire-user growled.

_‘He’s like…Naruto.’_ The Hyūga thought, _‘He can change those around him for the better.’_

{[\|/]}               {[/|\\]}               {[/|\\]}

            A lone runner ran up to the enormous gates of an even larger manor house. The house spoke of obvious wealth, especially from the gold gilding on the roof and gutter spouts. The runner panted before the gates, hands resting on his knees as sweat dripped down his face, adding to the already wet ground. It was pouring rain, but the roiling clouds above thankfully refrained from igniting the sky with thunder and lightning.

“M-m-message for his lordship!” the messenger finally managed to pant out, weakly banging on the gold filigreed gates. The gates slowly began to creak open, and the messenger stumbled through. A line of guards met the runner, one man standing in front of the line.

“What is the message for Lord Damasu?” the man in front of the line asked sternly. The messenger panted for a bit more, then straightened.

“Nakaku of the Air, it is an honor.” The messenger bowed his head to the lead guard, “The merchant, Rejionera, is approaching with his entourage. They will be arriving within the hour!” Nakaku stiffened, then threw his arm out.

“Prepare for the approach!” he called, and the line of guards scattered, running every-which-way to do as ordered.

{[\|/]}               {[/|\\]}               {[/|\\]}

            A large, carriage approached the large gates, a single man sitting at the helm with the reins. It was a simple, but high quality and elegant affair. The carriage came to a halt, the pair of horses snorting and neighing quietly, stomping at the muddy ground.

“Open up! I hail Lord Damasu on the behalf of Master Rejionera!” the driver shouted. He was a young man with dark, spiky hair and tanned skin. He wore dark, simple clothes, though there were bracers on his forearms and grieves on his shins, covering the tops of his black sandals. His hair was plastered to his head from the rain. The gates creaked open, and the driver urged the horses forward. A large tent had been erected to cover most of the courtyard closest to the mansion, under which was the ‘lord’ of the house. The carriage moved into the courtyard, stopping before the large group of people. Most of them were guards, lined up in crooked ranks. Lord Damasu was a portly man with a thin face and stringy white hair. He wore elaborate robes, more fitting of a daimyo than a gang lord. On either side of him stood a pair of retainers, the four men all twittering idiots who were there to make their leader look good. The guards were certainly impressive, though obviously not trained too well.

            The door of the carriage opened, and a young man stepped out and quickly under the canopy. He was about five feet tall, but his face was sharp, alert brown eyes scanning the area quickly, and short blonde hair fell around his face, hanging even with his shoulders. He wore a fairly expensive set of dark red robes over dark pants and a dark shirt, his feet covered by boots. He moved forward, bowing to Lord Damasu.

“Thank you for inviting me to do business with you. It is a great honor.” The disguised Shikamaru intoned, sounding polite and bored all at the same time. Damasu took it in stride, laughing loudly and uproariously.

“Gya, haa, haa, haa! No need for that, I’m glad you decided to come!” the false lord crowed, “Come, we’ll get you settled in. Nakaku!” Damasu clapped once and an orange haired man strode forward, green eyes locked on the group, “Take Rejionera and his entourage to the guest rooms.” Nakaku nodded, and gestured for the group to follow him into the mansion. Shikamaru looked back, seeing the six ‘girls’ and disguised Kiba. A servant had already led the horses and carriage away. Shikamaru nodded and the eight of them followed their guide. Nakaku was a tall man, thin and pale. He had several piercings on his face, which only added to his ‘don’t mess with me’ look, seven total, and his hair was left free to hang down his back, though it parted unevenly at his shoulders, letting some hang down his front as well. The trip to the guest suites was quiet, broken only by Nakaku opening a door and entering.

“These are the rooms assigned to you and your party, Master Rejionera. There is a large bath beyond that door, and a smaller room down that hall for your guard. Lord Damasu will be expecting you for the beginning negotiations shortly.” The orange haired man explained. One of the girls, a blonde with her hair hanging loose and full around her shoulders, moved forward and draped herself over Shikamaru’s shoulder. She wore a royal purple kimono spattered with white and blue lilies on blue water.

“So…” she drawled, “how soon is shortly? Long enough to have some…shall we say…fun?” Shikamaru slid his arm around Ino’s waist, smirking at the dark look he saw cross the other man’s face. He wasn’t sure, but he hoped it was jealousy, that would make their job much easier.

“You have ten minutes to prepare.” Nakaku replied shortly, glaring down his nose at Ino, “Master Rejionera, you would do well to keep your whores to yourself and keep them in line. There are others that will not hesitate to partake of their services. And it would be best to discipline them from speaking out of turn.” Shikamaru tightened his grip on Ino, thankfully hidden by the sleeves of her kimono, though this was to keep the blonde from attacking the guard for his remark rather than enforcing what was being said.

“I’ll keep that in mind.” The shadow user said, nodding. Nakaku nodded back and left. After the footsteps faded away, Shikamaru released Ino. There was a pulse of chakra, coming from one of the brunette girls, and a privacy jutsu went up.

“I’m gonna kill him!” Ino snarled.

“Relax Ino, you’re not a whore.” This came from one of the twin black haired girls, both of which had their hair up in pigtails and wore matching dark red kimonos scattered with black water embroidery and a black sickle moon on each of the sleeves.

“Terra, shut up.” The blonde growled.

“How do you know I’m Terra?” the girl replied back.

“Because Itachi doesn’t put his foot in his mouth like that.” The brunette who had put up the privacy jutsu replied drily. Her hair was down like Ino’s, but slightly longer. Her kimono was pale blue, and had faint white snowflakes patterned liberally over the fabric.

“Don’t sell me out Haku!” Terra exclaimed. The last brunette closed her light brown eyes and facepalmed, sighing into her kimono sleeve. Her hair was pulled into a braid, reaching nearly to her waist, and she wore a light green kimono with a large hawk in flight patterned over most of the bottom, covering a lot of the secondary design, which was water.

“Who are we going to send into negotiations?” she asked through her sleeve. Terra pointed at the last girl with black hair pulled into a high ponytail, who had yet to speak. She wore a dark blue kimono, which was patterned with white stars.

“Send Sasuke. You can pass off his grumpiness as motion sickness from traveling.” Shikamaru nodded at the suggestion, then reached up and pressed the receiver button on his neck, which was hidden by a Genjutsu.

“I Team to B Team, do you copy?” there was a moment of silence, then Chōji’s voice replied with a crackle of static.

_“Read you loud and clear. Everything okay?”_

“Yeah, just wanted to make sure you could hear us.” Shikamaru assured, “I’m going into negotiations with Sasuke, so someone keep an eye on my frequency. I’m going to send Terra and Neji out to search around. As it's the first day, they can pull it off as exploring.”

_“Alright, Tenten’s going to be watching their radios for issues. She says the code for yes is ‘Isn’t this amazing?’. Keep your wits about you, all of you, and good luck.”_ Chōji expressed.

“Same to you.” Shikamaru replied, then released the button.

“So, we’re going out now?” Terra drawled, rearranging one of the sleeves of the dark red kimono he wore. Shikamaru nodded and Terra and Neji left to ‘explore’.

“Are you going to be okay, Sasuke?” Itachi spoke for the first time. Sasuke nodded, and moved over by Shikamaru.

“I’ll be fine, Itachi.” Sasuke replied.

“Alright, let’s go.” Shikamaru ordered, and Kiba joined the group heading to negotiations.

{[\|/]}               {[/|\\]}               {[/|\\]}

            Shikamaru scanned the room the moment he entered, mentally marking where all the hidden ninja in it were, and there were a lot of them. He heard Kiba discreetly sniffing, scenting the air to get a gauge on how many people were in there and rough estimates of their chakra levels. Kiba couldn’t sense power levels like Akamaru could, but he could make good estimations by how they were spaced, as those who could handle themselves were more likely to set themselves a bit away from those that couldn’t. Shikamaru glanced over at Sasuke, who looked decidedly uncomfortable. Shikamaru couldn’t blame him, as if their positions were switched, he definitely wouldn’t be happy. As it was, Terra’s suggestion for passing off the ‘grumpy’ demeanor was sound.

“Ah! Master Rejionera, you came! I was worrying that you may have gotten lost or…shall we say, occupied? Gya, haa, haa, haa!” Damasu was reclining on a sofa-like chair, a young woman in a too short kimono kneeling on the ground beside him, holding a tray of dessert finger foods, while another kneeled at the other end, massaging the ‘Lord’s’ feet.

_‘Time to start the show.’_ Shikamaru thought with a sigh, before grinning wolfishly and pulling Sasuke close by slipping an arm around the transformed teen’s shoulders. For half a second, Sasuke stiffened, then he relaxed and leaned into Shikamaru. Obviously the Uchiha had been practicing with his brother and his teammates on demeanor as well as the jutsu. Otherwise Shikamaru knew that Sasuke would have nailed him with his Lion’s Barrage combo for that move.

“Ah, well…just a bit. Couldn’t resist when Ima basically threw herself on me. That’s the blonde.” Damasu nodded, remembering the blonde and thinking that she was certainly one of the best looking of the group, “In any case, I brought Shunka here,” he nodded slightly in Sasuke’s direction, “with me for our discussion. Do excuse her cranky mood though. The traveling wasn’t easy on her, and it’s _that_ time of the month, if you catch my drift.” It was almost worth the death threats and glares he knew he was going to get later to see the youngest Uchiha flush scarlet at the bull shit Shikamaru spewed for the gang lord’s benefit. As it was, Damasu leered at Sasuke for a bit before his gaze landed on Kiba.

“And, who is this?” the would-be-lord asked, “I didn’t think you swung _that_ way, Rejionera. Gya, haa, haa, haa!” That laugh was really getting annoying.

“Koji, my bodyguard.” Shikamaru rattled off boredly before Kiba could get offended, not missing how Damasu had already taken to using first name basis.

_‘Good, he’s getting comfortable.’_ The tactician thought, biting back a grin.

{[\|/]}               {[/|\\]}               {[/|\\]}

Terra and Neji moved quietly through the deserted hallways of the mansion. Neji had already pinpointed fifteen concealed rooms and eight tunnels, as well as several trap doors. Terra had relayed the information to Tenten, commenting on random decorations to convey messages to the team at the other end. The two came to a dead end and looked around.

“Well, that’s not good.” Terra muttered. Neji nodded, and was about to begin hand signs for the Byakugan, when a voice stopped them.

“What are you two doing out here?” the pair nearly leapt a mile, as whoever it was had managed to actually sneak up on them, no mean feat in and of itself. It took a lot of self restraint not to just attack the other person and instead appeared as startled as they actually had been. Terra could pull off Haku level acting if he needed too, and Neji just followed the older teen’s lead.

“A-ah! L-Lord Nakaku, don’t scare us like that!” Terra berated in a falsetto that surprisingly didn’t sound as fake as it was. Unfortunately, it had no effect on the stoic man.

“You’re not supposed to be here.” The orange haired man growled, narrowing his eyes at the two.”

“We got lost.” Terra replied, shrugging deftly and letting the right shoulder of the burgundy kimono slip a little. Nakaku didn’t react, other than to harden his glare, and Terra frowned internally, but brushed it off.

“Could you escort us back to our room?” Neji finally dared. He hadn’t managed as high a voice as Terra, who had practice thanks to living with Haku for so long, but the Hyūga had managed a mellow alto. After a moment of deliberation, Nakaku nodded and pointed back the way they had come.

“What are your names. I’m going to tell your master that he needs to tighten his leash on you both.” The orange haired man growled.

“Names? Oh, I’m Takiko and this is Nagisa.” Terra tittered, then started up a conversation on the garden they’d glimpsed in the back, and why there were so many herbs for poisons and healing ointments were growing in it, though Terra phrased it as ‘those plants that hardly ever have the pretty flowers’. Neji thought that Nakaku had the patience of a saint, the ignoring abilities of an Uchiha, or was around someone a lot who acted similarly to how Terra was at the moment.

{[\|/]}               {[/|\\]}               {[/|\\]}

            The door to the ‘conference’ room opened, doors nearly impacting with the walls from the force. Shikamaru looked up, as did Sasuke, Kiba, and Damasu. Striding towards them was Nakaku, who looked more than a little miffed about something. Shikamaru frowned, not having heard anything from the backup group, but it never hurt to check. Under the pretense of whispering to Sasuke, Shikamaru ducked his head and pressed discreetly on the transmitter button.

“Has anything happened?” the Chunin murmured to the microphone before quickly releasing it. A tiny crackle of static and Lee’s voice came over the earpiece.

_“Tenten says that Nakaku found Terra and Neji. He escorted them back to the room. Nakaku said he was going to tell you he found them wandering.”_ The Taijutsu user explained. Shikamaru nodded absently as Nakaku approached him, looking _very_ annoyed.

“Nakaku.” Shikamaru greeted with a nod, “What can I do for you?”

“Two of your… _girls_ were wandering the mansion, and they found the barracks. You’re lucky I came along when I did, otherwise your…women would have been…shall we say…brutally used?” Nakaku sneered at Sasuke, who barely refrained from glaring back by turning his face into Shikamaru’s shoulder.

“Which two?” the Chunin asked blithely.

“Nagisa and the chatterbox Takiko.” The orange haired man fairly spat Terra’s code name, and Shikamaru had little difficulty imagining the Uchiha talking up a storm to cover Neji’s lack of talking.

“I’ll see that they’re punished.” The brunette turned blonde assured, “Thank you for your assistance.” Nakaku snorted and turned, stalking off to stand beside Damasu, who hadn’t paid any attention to the conversation. Instead he had taken to fondling one of his girls, who though she wore a pleasured expression, looked like she was disgusted more than enjoying the treatment.

“That…is deplorable.” Sasuke muttered. Shikamaru mentally agreed with him, but settled for a look of tiredness and faint annoyance when he called out to their host.

“Damasu, I think it would be best to retire for now. You seem…distracted.” The disguised Chunin called. With an absent-minded wave, Damasu agreed with him, and the two undercover Leaf shinobi rose and left the room with Kiba. They waited until they were back in the room that had been assigned as their guest room before speaking about things other than trivial comments on the trappings of the mansion. The others gathered in the room looked up, and Haku threw up another privacy jutsu.

“You’re an ass Shikamaru, did you know that?” the strategist smirked, barely keeping from laughing at Sasuke’s annoyance.

“What happened?” Itachi asked. As Shikamaru and Sasuke related what had happened during negotiations, the others alternated between laughing and scowling in disgust.

{[\|/]}               {[/|\\]}               {[/|\\]}

            The room was dark, though the occupant made no move to fix the absence of light. The single person occupying the room moved to the center of the room, casting several privacy jutsu and a few Genjutsu as well. Finally, they relaxed, standing impassively in the middle of the room, as green eyes shifted to purple and rings appeared around the pupil, extending far into the sclera. Those ringed eyes rose, looking outwards as the room seemed to shimmer and distort. Slowly, the dark room seemed to warp and ripple until it was replaced by the interior of a rocky cave. Six other forms appeared, all of them fuzzy and staticy as though projected by a bad television.

“Well?” this came from a short, hunched figure. Though the projections showed no facial features besides eyes, it was quite clear the figure was glaring at everyone else.

“Patience Sasori.” The main figure said, his figure as staticy as the others, “I will explain in time. As for everyone else, what is the status of our other projects?”

“We’ve got an idea of where three, four, and five might be.” This gravelly response came from one of the tallest of the figures, who clearly carried a sword.

“Good, we will be ready for when we have the means to collect them. Thank you Kisame.” Said the leader.

“As for that bastard Uchiha, he’s still missing, un.” The words were all but spit from one of the shorter figures, of which only one blue eye was visible.

“Deidara’s right, he up and disappeared somewhere in the Land of Water, but not even the bounty hunters have found him.” the man who had said that was one of the tallest, with dual colored eyes that glared at everyone.

“That is regrettable, Kakuzu. However, I have found something of great interest.” The others all gave their attention to the purple eyed figure at their head, “The Village Hidden in the Leaves has taken notice of the rouge ninja group I have been monitoring, just as I thought they would. From what I can tell, the group consists of mostly Genin and Chunin. One of which, I am sure is the Itachi look-alike that some of our Genin spotted during the Chunin Exams.”

“You’re certain it isn’t Itachi himself?” Sasori asked, “And I thought that boy died.” The leader nodded again.

“Apparently it was either a rumor or he was missing in action for a time. Even if he were undercover, Itachi Uchiha would never be as talkative as this teen. He makes light of every situation he comes across, even when he is in trouble.” Several snickers echoed around the room.

“Well, he certainly sounds like fun, but he definitely isn’t Itachi.” Kisame sneered.

“His levity is…reprehensible, to be sure, but he would not have made Chunin if he were incompetent. This is something we will have to look further into. Someone of that caliber could be dangerous to our organization. This mission of Konoha’s, is very in depth, and will span over a long period of time. The group that has infiltrated the mansion is making headway with the head of the house, even though it’s only been a few hours. We will have to keep an eye out to see if Itachi shows up to see his younger brother.” The orange haired man paused, then continued slowly, “I also do not think that Itachi would condone to disguising himself as a female.” Several more laughs echoed through the cavern. The figure nearest the leader turned to survey him.

“Pein, you had better get back. You might be missed, and that would arouse suspicions.” It was a woman’s voice, low and mellow, that spoke, and the orange haired man nodded.

“I leave you in charge, Konan.” Pein said, then the cave winked out of existence. The orange haired man blinked slowly, then looked around the room he had been standing in for some time. Quickly dismantling his jutsu, he recast the Genjutsu over his eyes that hid their true coloring and quickly left the room, back in the guise of Nakaku.

{[\|/]}               {[/|\\]}               {[/|\\]}

            The five ‘girls’ and Kiba were sitting in the main room of the suite assigned to Shikamaru, waiting for said teen to return. Nakaku had come by a few minutes ago and had pulled the Chunin out of the room, not wanting to be overheard by the entourage with matters he deemed too important for ‘lesser’ members of society.

“This mission… _really_ sucks.” Haku groaned, picking at the expensive silk that made up his disguise. The other four under the jutsu agreed wholeheartedly, and Ino, who was standing not far away, rolled her eyes as she flicked some of her loose hair over her shoulder. The ice-user followed the strands of flaxen hair with his eyes, only to hear snickering behind him.

“Haku…don’t get distracted.”

“Oi! Shh!” the cryomancer snapped at the dark haired teen, glaring senbon at the speaker. Itachi shook his head, then turned to Shikamaru as the brunette entered the room. Terra grinned broadly, raising his eyebrows as he looked at Ino, then back at Haku, before focusing on Shikamaru. The Chunin looked grimmer than usual, glaring at the ground as he closed the door.

“Rejionera?” Ino asked quietly, conscious of the fact that Haku was still working on casting the privacy jutsu. Her teammate waited until the jutsu had been cast before speaking.

“We have a problem.” Shikamaru muttered darkly.

“What’s up?” Terra asked, crossing his arms and raising his eyebrows.

“Damasu expects only one or two of you to sleep here. The rest he’s prepared ‘beds’ for in the room where his…girls sleep.” Frowns passed among the group along with furtive glances.

“Well, we can’t exactly defy him.” Ino mumbled darkly, “Who is going to stay here?”

“I say we set up a rotation of pairs.” Haku stated, drawing everyone’s attention to him, “That way, we’ve always got four people in each location.” Shikamaru nodded.

“That sounds like the best way to go about this. So, Neji and Ino tonight. Sasuke and Haku tomorrow, and Itachi and Terra the day after that.” Itachi frowned, not appreciating that he wouldn’t be able to stay with his brother, but Shikamaru cut him off, “I know you want to stay with Sasuke, Itachi, but we need to keep the guise that you and Terra are twins, remember?” The former missing ninja sighed and nodded.

“I guess we’d better go on. It’s getting late.” Haku grimaced, not liking this prospect any more than the others. Shikamaru nodded, albeit reluctantly, and returned to the door. The privacy jutsu was dropped, and the Chunin opened the door. Nakaku waited patiently outside, leaning against the opposite wall. Shikamaru managed to pull on a smirk, not feeling like it at all.

“Sorry ‘bout that.” He apologized with an easy, laid-back air, “I wanted to make sure that Koji got his choice as well. I take it you wouldn’t mind if he escorted them with you? Just so we know where they are.” Nakaku waved dispassionately.

“Do what you will, Master Rejionera.” Looking further into the room at Kiba, he said, “This way.” Kiba moved forward, glancing past the four who moved to follow him, and nodding at Shikamaru.

“So, where are we going exactly?” Kiba asked.

“A room in the east wing. It was originally a ballroom, but after Lord Damasu took over, he converted it into a large sleeping room. There are also baths there. Lord Damasu keeps a steady supply of whores for both his own use and my men’s usage, but they should be settling down for the night by now.” Nakaku explained. He and Kiba made small talk for the rest of the short journey, while the four trailing behind memorized the route. They would need it if they ever had to get back to the room where Shikamaru was without looking suspicious. After several minutes, they arrived at a set of doors, which Nakaku threw open without preamble. The chatter that had been going on, dissipated as the dozens of women and girls inside looked up at the violent entrance. Many looked excited at the prospect of being taken away for the night, while others looked scared, those who were obviously fairly new to their new role in life, or resigned, those who looked like they had been doing this kind of work for a while. Terra and Haku shared a glance, both recognizing the same looks from the slave Catacombs, though there had been a lot more people who had already given up in the caves.

“Do you need an escort back to your room?” Nakaku asked Kiba, who nodded sheepishly.

“Yeah, wasn’t really paying attention.” The Inuzuka, offering a grin in recompense. The orange haired man nodded, then turned to glare at the four loitering the halls.

“Get in there! Did you think I had opened the door for no reason?” It was only his brother’s hand at the middle of his back that stopped Sasuke from retaliating. Instead, he settled for a sullen frown, following Terra into the room. Nakaku slammed the door shut after Itachi had cleared the jam, and the four boys were left to fend for themselves in a room full of women.

“Fun.” Terra muttered under his breath. And to think, it was only the first real day of their mission.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who can guess which line of Pein’s is quoted and where it came from?
> 
> And who knows where I got Damasu's laugh?


	5. Help Me If You Can

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Terra is dead. Haku is comatose in the hospital. Itachi is being stretched thin over the village with trivial missions. However, things are looking up for Team Seven, but evil is stirring and there's no stopping the cogs of the great machine of war as darkness blooms on the horizon. Snakes will slither, clouds will drip blood, and the earth will shake. Shake, move, and reveal...
> 
>  
> 
> Terra died in the Land of Snow...or did he? The truth unravels and desperate escapes ensue. Can life continue, or will relationships crumble away in the face of new adversity. It's bad enough that Terra and Tenten were separated by the veil of death, but what else could tear them apart? Team Twelve is back in business, with a new face coming to the ranks, and missions waiting in the wings. So begins the Second Book of the Fire and Ice Series: Melted Snow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As an apology for missing my last update day, I'm posting this chapter a day early.

Ino Yamanaka blinked as her mental avatar formed, and her feet fell heavily to the imaginary ground, making her sway and swing her arms slightly to keep balance. A large hand steadied her, and Ino looked up to see her father looking around with a raised eyebrow. She looked around too, and felt her mouth drop open. When she had made the mistake of entering Sakura’s mind during the Chunin exams, it had been a plain expanse of black shifting energy. This mind was much different. True, the mind they were in now was older than Sakura’s, but…for Inoichi Yamanaka of the T&I division to be surprised… A shifting expanse of misty woods extended away from them in all but one direction, and that was straight behind them. Rather than seemingly inviting woods, a great dark maw opened up from the ground, tunneling deep into the metaphysical ground.

“What an interesting layout for a mind.” Inoichi murmured, “It’s different from before.”

“Daddy?” Ino felt more than a little uneasy. The woods were much more inviting than the open tunnel that she stood much too close to for her liking.

“He’s added some very interesting protections to his mind. You feel how the forest seems to invite you in while the tunnel makes you want to run the other way?” Inoichi explained, and Ino nodded, “The way we want to go is down, not into the trees. We would likely get lost in there and be unable to return.” The blonde teen shuddered, but followed close to her father as they moved into the tunnel. Every step in they took, the feeling of dread and despair increased. A few meters in and the tunnel abruptly turned and then became a very steep slope. Both of the mind walkers carefully slid down, until the slope ended in a knee-deep pond. Ino ignored the water, as her father moved off further into the mindscape. There were several traps littering the tunnel now; trip wires, snares, pitfalls, pressure plates, and swinging blades, some of which were triggered by the water dripping from their clothes. Somehow, they made it through all of that, and finally came to the end of the tunnel. At least Ino hoped it was the end of the tunnel. A broad, circular door spanned the entire width of the passage, a large phoenix patterned over it, and a large door-knocker rested in the center, over the fire-bird’s heart, shaped like a large Ouroboros.

“He certainly has gone through great lengths to keep people out of this part of his mind. Though considering what he’s been through, I’m not really surprised. It’s got to be his sanctuary.” Inoichi commented, reaching forward and, with the tip of a kunai, raised the knocker and let it fall back with a loud clang of metal striking metal. Ino shrieked as a shower of sparks resulted and whirled around the Ouroboros, which then came to life, releasing its tail and rising up like a fiery cobra preparing to strike.

_“Who comes and disturbs my rest? Who wishes entrance to my depths? Those unwanted will be repressed. Those unworthy will meet their deaths. Answer not, but give the truth. Do not hide, do not sleuth. I ask three questions, what they may be? Answer all to gain entry. Do not hesitate, do not judge. I bear no ill, I bear no grudge. Your heart will answer, true and pure. All you need do, is be sure. Of the first I now begin. So ponder well, and answer them. The first is easy, I must admit. So your answer must be perfect. I welcome those who know my name. I eat those who would bring pain. I tear and render, rip and bite. I smother day and light up night. Those who know me hear my roar. They know I come to even the score. Now answer just, answer well. What is my name, do pray tell?”_ Ino stared at the flaming Ouroboros. Her father also looked at the dragon, though with interest. The blonde teen blinked turning her thoughts to all she knew about the teen who’s mind she was in and before she could think further, heard herself answer.

“Fire.” Inoichi turned abruptly to look at her, but the flaming dragon nodded its head in her direction.

_“You answered well and true. Now you know just what to do. The second question I must ask. It is my duty and my task. Whose heart is warmest that I know? Though their mien is cold as snow? Whose sacrifice was more than any could ask? Who wore the foulest mask? Who made the leap of faith? Who pushed another to the path of hate? Your answer I do await. Who had the misfortune of this fate?”_ this time Inoichi answered before either of the blondes could really think about the answer.

“Itachi Uchiha.” Ino looked at her father, but a short shake of his head warned her to wait until they had finished before asking questions. The Ouroboros nodded again.

_“Your hearts have given answers true. You presently stand at two for two. My final question is a serious one. It’s not in jest or to have fun. Why do you stand before me now? I do not mean the where and how. I entered here to protect a light. Someone threatened her, so I made right. What’s done is done. No turning back, it has begun. The light I left to stay free and pure. What is her name, is she secure?”_ Ino closed her eyes and fought to keep her face straight as she felt herself answer for the second time.

“Me, Ino Yamanaka, and yes, I’m fine.” The flaming dragon nodded a third time before again clamping its mouth around its tail and falling back against the door. The fire that had been burning around it dissipating into the phoenix, briefly igniting it before fading. Slowly, the door creaked open and Ino moved forward, followed by her father, into the space beyond. Almost instantly, she found herself back in a forest setting, but this one was one she somewhat recognized.

“This is somewhere in the village.” Inoichi murmured.

“Training Ground Twelve.” The two blondes jumped, looking up to see a dark haired teen sitting on a higher branch, leaning back against the trunk of the tree as he looked upwards. Ino could just see the left side of his face, and the scar that crossed over one dark eye.

“So, this is where you’ve been, Terra Uchiha?” Inoichi called back. The eighteen year old glanced down, flashing a small smile in Ino’s direction, before focusing on the elder Yamanaka. Ino felt chilled, that smile had been _nothing_ like Terra’s usual smiles, barely even a ghost of one of his habitually Naruto-worthy grins.

“Yeah. Last time you were here I was unconscious as well. I take it the defenses weren’t too much of a problem for you?” Terra was scarily calm, considering what had occurred for him to lock himself in his mind. Ino felt a chill run down her back when the older shinobi looked back at the sky, acting more distant than she had ever seen him act.

“No, though the riddles were a bit strange.” Inoichi replied. Terra smiled slightly, looking more like his old self as he glanced downwards from the corner of his dark eyes.

“Well, I figured if someone got that far, they would know me well enough to answer some riddles about me. If not, the Ouroboros would have drawn the truth from them before sending them back to their own minds and shutting them down for a while.” The pyromancer swung his hanging leg slightly, the other drawn up to his chest and held by his forearms, “So, how are the others taking it and how long have I been out?” Ino glanced at her father, but answered.

“You’ve been out for almost three weeks. We had to avoid search groups for a few days and it put us almost a week away from Konoha. Lady Tsunade thought it would be best for us to come in and get you, rather than wait it out, because it’s been so long.” Terra nodded, indicating for her to continue, “The others are more or less recovered. Itachi and Haku were the worst off, chakra wise, but both are back on their feet. Haku hasn’t left your room though. Neither has Tenten. Itachi and Sasuke have been in and out though. Most of the others have come by at least once, but they’ve been recovering on their own time.”

“Good.” Terra replied shortly, and slightly absently.

“Terra, I-…” Ino paused as the fire-user suddenly turned and slipped from his perch, landing lightly on the ground less than five feet from the pair of Yamanaka shinobi.

“Inoichi, right?” when the elder blonde nodded, Terra jerked his head slightly at Ino, “I know you know everything, but how much does she know?”

“I believe your friend, Haku, has been telling her about his, and your, shared past.” Ino blinked and looked between the older shinobi trying to figure out what her knowing about how Terra and Haku had met in the slavery Catacombs was relevant to the conversation.

“Do you know what the main reasons for buying a child slave are, Ino?” the pyromancer asked in a dead voice.

“N-No.” Ino replied, startled by the abrupt change in the teen.

“There are actually quite a few,” Terra continued, looking up and refusing to meet Ino’s gaze, “Start ‘em young, raise ‘em into slavery, that kind of thing. But there are the sickos out there who like to…enjoy the offerings a younger body has, shall we say? Girls are always snatched up quickly, the traditional outlet for those who like females but prefer them to be much younger. Boys often get the same treatment, especially when they’re young enough that their features are still girlish.” The fire-user grimaced, “Haku was lucky enough _not_ to be taken, and that was mostly to do with me drawing the guards’ attentions.” Ino stared at the teenager, trying to bully her brain into seeing the point that Terra was dodging around. She wasn’t as smart as Sakura, but it didn’t take her long to come to the conclusion that Terra had been pushing her towards. Ino gasped and clapped her hands to her mouth, blue eyes wide as she stared at the older teenager.

“I take it, that what the guards did wasn’t exactly in the realm of what you had been exposed to.” Inoichi said slowly, keeping an eye on Ino’s reactions. Terra grimaced again, and gave a half-hearted shrug with one shoulder.

“They never came at me more than two at a time if that’s what you were asking. It’s also been six years since then, give or take a few months.” He replied, only to jump in surprise when Ino suddenly surged forward and wrapped him in a hug, “I-Ino?”

“I’m _so_ sorry you had to do that!” the blonde girl wailed, burying her face in the dark-haired teen’s shirt, “I was supposed to cover for you, and you ended up having to cover for me!” Terra hesitantly patted her head, intensely wary of putting his hands in places they shouldn’t. No doubt Tenten would find out and murder the both of them, even if it had been an accident.

“It’s fine Ino, that’s what you’re here for, right? To bring me back?” Ino nodded at Terra’s words.

“Yeah.”

{[\|/]}               {[/|\\]}               {[/|\\]}

            Tenten yawned as she walked up to the listening station for the group inside the mansion, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She had just woken from a nap, and was moving to take her shift at listening for problems. The brunette froze as she realized she was hearing singing.

_“She’s so g-gone away like h-h-history, she’s so gone…b-baby this is me.……She’s so gone. That’s all o-over now. She’s s-so gone. You won’t f-find her around-d. You can lo-ok but you w-won’t see the girl I u-used to be ‘cause she’s so gone.”_ Tenten gasped and raced forward, skidding to a stop beside Chōji, who was playing hangman with Lee. Kimimaro was paying attention to his radio, or actually his and the radio that Lee was supposed to be watching upon further examination.

“Who’s singing?” she asked in a panicked voice.

“Uh, Terra…I think.” Chōji replied. Tenten’s heart sank, and she gripped the back of Chōji’s chair tighter.

“W-what were the songs he’s sung already?” she queried, hesitant to know but desperate all the same. Kimimaro silently passed her the list of songs he’d written down, which Tenten had requested at the start of their part of the mission. She and Terra had a code of songs that stood for different people and things. The pyromancer would occasionally spell out little nonsense messages over the course of the day if he were particularly bored, so Tenten had asked the others to write down the titles of any songs they heard Terra muttering or singing. As she read over the list however, Tenten’s heart sunk even further. This was no sweet message between boyfriend and girlfriend, this was a message for help. Snatching the headset connected to Kiba’s radio from Lee, Tenten frantically flicked it to Kiba’s channel.

“Kiba! There’s an emergency. You need to get to Terra and the others right away. Leave Shikamaru where he is, he needs to keep up pretenses.” The weapons mistress barked into the microphone. There was a soft, muttered affirmative and Tenten flipped to Ino’s channel.

“What is going on Tenten? Why do you think they’re in trouble?” Lee asked. His teammate shoved the paper back at him.

“Read down that list, what does the first letter of every song title spell out?” she asked, then switched on her microphone, “Ino, what’s going on?” there was nothing but static.

“I-K-N-O-W-L-E-A-V-E-S?” Lee spelled, obviously confused.

“‘I’ is the song Terra always sings to start the message. ‘K’ stands for Kiba, and ‘S’ stands for Shikamaru.” Tenten hastily replied. Every one of the radios besides Shikamaru’s, Kiba’s, and Neji’s, which was the one they were listening to originally, were only giving feedbacks of static. Something was seriously wrong.

“So…the message is…‘Kiba. Now. Leave…Shika...maru…’” Chōji’s voice trailed off as he realized what exactly Terra’s message was. There was a pause, then all three whirled to look at the radio that was monitoring Neji’s radio. The singing had stopped, but there were sounds from the background coming across that made Tenten’s blood freeze.

 “Oh god…they’re-”

_“What the hell is going on here?”_

{[\|/]}               {[/|\\]}               {[/|\\]}

            Terra grimaced, shifting against the wall he was attempting to sleep against. He was too paranoid to sleep on the mats scattered around the floor. Itachi, Ino, and Neji were all dozing, but Terra couldn’t sleep. He had a prickling sensation at the back of his neck, and that usually meant trouble was coming. The pyromancer had almost convinced himself to go to sleep when a door slammed close by. Terra straightened as the other three started awake.

“Takiko?” Ino asked, rubbing sleep from her eyes.

“Someone’s coming.” the Uchiha murmured. Loud, drunken laughter echoed down the hall outside, and some of the girls nearest the door roused. Most of them were looking excited, while the other women shied away from the door. Moments later, the door burst open, and three men staggered in.

“Hello ladies!” the man in the lead slurred, “Who wants to have some *hic* fun?”

“Hey...look...we’ve got some newbies.” to the leaf ninjas’ horror, the second guy pointed at the four shinobi.

“Well, well, well...what have we here?” the flinch that the four disguised ninja gave as the man, who was obviously one of the guards, appeared steps away from them was, unfortunately, not an over-exaggerated fake. Terra shared a glance with Itachi, knowing that his cousin’s smaller chakra pool had been proving a real problem on this mission. The jutsu that Naruto had taught them was _very_ draining, especially if used over time as they had been doing. Ino was constantly covering for their little slip ups in demeanor and spent more time than any of them in the discussions, which also killed her reserves of energy, though she wasn’t using chakra.

“We’re here with our master, Rejionera.” Ino’s voice barely shook as she replied.

“Well, why don’t you sing for us, *hic* pretty?” It was a mark of how exhausted the Konoha shinobi were that none of them reacted in time to keep the lead drunkard from seizing Ino around the throat and hoisting her to her feet, “You sound like your singing voice would be *hic* real pretty.” Ino grasped the man’s wrist, frantically trying to release her airway. His free hand began to wander over the blonde’s body. Neji, Itachi, and Terra quickly rose to their feet, but the pyromancer acted first.

“He called her on the phone, from a lonely cold hotel room, just to hear her say ‘I love you’ one more time. And when he heard the sound, of the kids, laughing in the background, he had to wipe away a tear from his eye. A little voice came on the phone. Said ‘Daddy when you coming home?’  He said the first thing, that came to his mind.” The leaf ninjas stared at Terra as the guard dropped Ino and shared leering glances with his peers. The blonde konoichi scrambled back, scrabbling at her throat and kimono disheveled. Terra continued his song, subtly waving the others away. Neji hastily, and clandestinely, undid his microphone, setting it to automatic pick-up. Nobody had to hold down the transmit button now, and everyone at the base camp for the back-up group could hear Terra over the radio. The three shinobi edged around the guards, only for one to snap out an arm to grab Itachi around the neck. Terra’s voice faltered, but the guard held a kunai to Itachi’s right eye.

“Keep singing, or your twin won’t be so identical anymore. If you’re good, we won’t hurt her...much.” the leering smile said otherwise, but Terra had little choice but to keep singing. He cycled through the end of “I’m Already There”, and moved on to the rest of his hurriedly thought up mental playlist to convey the message he wanted. He hoped that Tenten was on watch, or coming onto hers. The pyromancer got through two more songs before the guards moved again. The leader staggered forward, sliding his clumsy fingers through one of Terra’s pigtails, gripping tightly once his hand was anchored firmly, despite the teen’s subtle attempts otherwise. The Uchiha winced, stammering slightly but continuing to sing.

“Unless you want your sister to suffer, you’re going to do exactly what we say.” Terra’s eyes flicked to Itachi, then Ino with the others as well as several other girls slipping out the door. He nodded, eyes back on Itachi, who hadn’t let his gaze stray from the kunai knife hovering way too close to for comfort to his eyes.

“Good, I’ve been spoiling for some fun.” The third, empty-handed, guard grinned as the one holding Terra tightened his grip, tiling the teen’s head to the side, “Don’t stop singing, no matter what happens.” Terra took those words to heart, distancing himself mentally as much as possible as the guard began to have his fun. The pyromancer pulled back into an area of his mind he hadn’t visited since before his first escape from the Catacombs with Haku. As much as the Doctor had wanted to keep his specimens until he was finished with them, the guards couldn’t always keep their hands to themselves, especially after too many drinks. They had taken advantage of Terra’s weakened state after testing many times, the first time had been right after the first tests and the worst of all of them, though thankfully the guards had refrained on the night of the two boys’ escape. Terra hadn’t even told Zabuza about that part of his personal hell, too ashamed to admit he had been so weak to his strong benefactor.

“Remember, keep singing. Because you don’t belong to our employer, we’ll refrain from tapping _that_ hole, but everywhere else is fair game.” The guard’s whisper yanked Terra from his mind’s sanctuary, eyes widening in surprised fear. As the illusion he was projecting showed him as female, any penetration of his cover’s female parts wouldn’t have been felt, but that wasn’t where the guards were planning to violate. Where they were aiming for _was_ a part of Terra’s body. The revelation hit Terra just as he felt the guard roughly breech his sphincter, tearing tissue and membrane. The pyromancer managed to pass off the short cry of pain as a part of the ending of his song. He slumped slightly, breathing slightly heavily, trying to breathe and adjust. The guard holding Itachi waved his kunai.

“Sing.” He demanded. Terra choked slightly, but managed to gather enough breath to shakily pick up the next song. He studiously ignored the trails of warm liquid snaking down his legs, his song punctuated every so often by a faint stammer as the guard moved. Terra slipped back into his mind, keeping himself alert enough to keep an eye on Itachi and to keep singing, but only just. He didn’t register what the guards were doing to him, barely noticing the increase of blood streaming down his legs. It was unusual for physical pain to register so high, but Terra couldn’t let himself think on it, or he would focus too much on it. He closed his eyes in relief as the guard with a drawn kunai released Itachi, who staggered back and disappeared in a puff of smoke. Moments after, or it could have been hours, he finished his message to the others. Before Terra could slide entirely into the safety of his mind, a tearing, _ripping_ , sensation pulled him to full awareness. The pyromancer’s cry of pain was lost as the third guard filled his mouth, which was easily accessible as the two other guards had lowered the Uchiha to the ground so they could easily share. Terra squeezed his eyes shut, trying to breath and keep himself as calm as possible. The curse mark on his neck throbbed painfully with angry energy. It would do no good to panic and reveal himself. Everybody in their group would be in danger and the mission would dissolve into chaos. That thought, and the fact that he knew that as tired as he was, he’d only put himself in a worse position if he tried to fight back. These were the only things that kept Terra from retaliating, even as the guards rotated and switched positions. Finally, his mind succeeded in tearing him away from the pain and securing him in the hiding place he’d created all those years ago.

{[\|/]}

            Kiba quickly made his way towards the room where half the infiltration team slept, worried about his teammates. Tenten had sounded unusually panicked when she had called him, and Kiba had only muttered “bathroom” to Shikamaru and Haku before hurrying out. He figured that the strategist would quickly figure out what was going on, especially if the radio listeners were going to check the rest of their radios. The Inuzuka was worried because none of the others had contacted them, asking for assistance. As he turned a corner, Kiba discovered why. Ino, Neji, Itachi, and several of Damasu’s girls were sitting or standing in the hallway outside the sleeping room. Ino was sitting at the base of the wall, shaking with her face buried in her hands. Neji and Itachi looked very awkward as they attempted to calm the blonde down, though Itachi kept sending worried glances to the door of the room they had vacated.

“Hey, what’s going on?” Kiba asked as he came within speaking range, not wanting to call too much attention to the happenings. Neji turned and the Inuzuka could see the stress this mission was placing on them all in the dark shadows under the older Genin’s contact-covered eyes.

“Takiko’s inside with three drunk guards who decided to have some fun tonight.” Neji explained quietly, then in an even softer undertone added, “We would have called earlier, but I left my radio in there to broadcast to the others, Ino’s was broken when the guard choked her, and Itachi’s isn’t working.” Kiba nodded, straitening and squaring his shoulders. As he marched to the door, Itachi’s hand grabbed his shoulder.

“Keep in mind that Takiko may be in a…compromising position. Try and keep from making the situation worse.” The Uchiha warned quietly. Kiba nodded again, then moved forward. A choking sound from beyond the doors made him still for a moment before surging into action. If a fellow Leaf shinobi was being hurt, Kiba didn’t think he could live with himself if he didn’t at least try to help. That’s what he was here for, to protect Shikamaru and the others from threats inside the mansion. He slammed the doors open, quickly scanning the room beyond. At first he didn’t see them, as the room was dark, but he found them finally, in a shadowed corner where he could tell by the scent that the four that slept here had commanded for themselves over the past three weeks. The three guards, one of which was laying on the ground, were clustered around something. Red colored the Inuzuka’s vision as he recognized the kimono sleeve that had been ripped free of the whole, laying in a patch of moonlight from the un-shuttered window. A growl built in his throat as he took several steps forward, making the whore girls, likely waiting for a round themselves, who had stayed in the room scatter out of his way.

 “What the hell is going on here?” Kiba shouted. Terra was dropped in a boneless heap beside the guards, covered in blood and other fluids. Kiba felt bile well in his throat as he saw and comprehended what the guards had done, but kept it under control.

“What’s the big idea, spoiling our fun?” one of the guards yelled.

“FUN?” Kiba shouted back, barely keeping from blowing both Terra’s cover and his own as he continued, “You call raping a girl _fun?_ What did you do, hold her at knife point until she couldn't move?”

“No, just her sister.” This was from the smallest of the guards, who giggled at his words. Kiba glared at him, but the guard only giggled harder, pupils dilated but smaller than would have been normal for a dark room.

_‘What are these guys…drugged or something?’_ the Inuzuka thought, then glanced at the other two, seeing their eyes were similar to the other’s.

“Get. Away. From. Her. _NOW!_ ” Kiba bit out. The guards scattered, each grabbing a moaning whore and dragging her off, presumably to a less occupied room. Kiba took a couple of steps forward before kneeling to inspect Terra, hearing the other Konoha shinobi enter and hurry towards him. It was a shock to see that the disguise jutsu was slowly fading away, likely because Terra’s consciousness was not aware enough to continue to add chakra to it. The fire-user was still staring at nothing, eyes unfocused and vacant. It was like nobody was present in the mind behind those dark, at times deadly, eyes. There was no response when Kiba snapped lightly near the other’s ear. The Uchiha’s eyes were blank, staring ahead in an absent fashion. Terra’s kimono had been torn to shreds, one of which being the sleeve Kiba had seen earlier.

“Oh god.”  Ino squeaked, and Kiba heard a thump. Turning, he saw the blonde had collapsed in a heap, staring helplessly at the teen on the ground as tears streamed down her face. Kiba touched a finger to his microphone, not sure what to do or say to comfort her.

“Shino? Can you guys hear me?” the brunette murmured quietly as he turned back to survey Terra. He didn’t miss the stricken look on Itachi’s face, or the wide-eyed shock on Neji’s. Both feats thought impossible, an Uchiha and/or a Hyūga showing surprise through their facial features. A crackle of static and a calm voice replied.

_“What is it Kiba?”_ Shino asked.

“We need Haku to be waiting for us when we get back to the room. Terra’s badly hurt and need’s medical attention now. I don’t know what Shikamaru can do to get them out of there, but Terra doesn’t seem to be healing.” A beat of silence followed Kiba’s whispered statement.

_“Haku will be on his way shortly, Shikamaru says that they were almost finished for the night anyways.”_

“Right, let’s get going.” Kiba said briskly, lifting Terra after ensuring that the scraps of the eighteen year old’s kimono would cover him. The Inuzuka frowned, finding the Chunin surprisingly light for his size. Ignoring the girls and women scattered about, the five Konoha shinobi hastily rushed from the room. Kiba kept glancing around, making sure that whenever they came to an intersection, Neji looked ahead first to ensure they wouldn’t run into any unfriendly parties. Ino kept hiccupping quietly as she tried to stop crying.

Finally, they arrived at the room set aside for Shikamaru and swiftly entered. Haku whirled to face them, ice-covered senbon ready to be thrown until the cryomancer realized who they were. Judging from the patches of frost on the window and the icy path that showed Haku had been pacing, the others had explained what they knew of the situation and the ice-user wasn’t happy with the lack of information. Shikamaru put up a privacy jutsu, as he currently had the most chakra excluding Ino, who was still in shock, and Kiba, who had his hands full.

“Terra?” Haku’s voice shook as he asked, and Kiba moved forward to lay the older teen down on the bed. It seemed wrong to see the usually lively, and if not that at least sarcastic, teen so still and quiet, much like Naruto when he was in the hospital. Terra’s default was a glaringly bright personality that drew attention and allowed others to slip in under the radar. He fell fully into the ‘Recognizable and Notable’ shinobi bracket, the ones that usually ended up in the bingo books, while others were left to the wayside as they were not noticed but just as deadly because of that. Kakashi and Guy were similarly placed, and Itachi would too if he wasn’t so good at disappearing in crowds.

“Go ahead and see what you can do, Haku. We’re limited as we are here. I’m going to see why the radios aren’t working.” Shikamaru said, seeming to snap the ice-user from his trance. Kiba glanced at Itachi and Sasuke, who were staring at their cousin like they’d seen someone stab their dog, then shifted as Ino slid closer, still crying slightly and staring at Terra.

“H-Haku…I-I’m s-s-sorry.” The blonde stammered. The cryomancer sighed, then shook his head, dark hair swirling back and forth over silk.

“You’re not to blame Ino. If anything, you need to say thank you, _profusely_ , when Terra comes around. He saved you from that, and it’s something you never want to experience. I’ve been lucky, but Terra’s told stories about what the guards used to do to some of the others before I came along. I know quite a few died of blood loss before starvation, and it became a morbid running joke to bet which one would come first among the older slaves.” Haku’s voice was like the ice he wielded as he spoke quietly about the times in the Catacombs, “I think we, and you in turn, can consider ourselves lucky that none of the men tonight were quite as deranged as the guards _there_ were.”

“Why isn’t he waking up?” Sasuke asked, no one else having heard Haku’s words to Ino, not breaking eye contact with Terra’s slack face, “Shouldn’t he be rousing already?”

“Not for a while. I recognize what Terra’s done. It’s a kind of coma-like state that he often put himself in during a particularly bad day of tests. He’ll wake up, but time-wise, we’re stymied until one of us can figure out the safe word or phrase he chose before doing so. Otherwise we’ll have to wait.” Haku explained, though some people assumed he was talking about when Terra had been in Orochimaru’s _tender_ care, “I don’t think the word from the last time he did this would work.” The cryomancer looked down at his oldest friend, “Until Terra can figure out he’s no longer in danger, or one of us guesses his safe phrase…there’s nothing we can do.”

{[\|/]}               {[/|\\]}               {[/|\\]}

            Shikamaru was hard pressed not to scowl when he answered the door the next morning. Nakaku stood there, face impassive and eyes carefully averted to keep from seeming to step above his station.

“Rejionera,” the taller man paused, “may I…come in?” It was an unusual request. Nakaku commonly acted like Neji had before the Chunin finals, i.e. as though he had a large stick shoved up his ass. After the orange haired head of the guard had entered, and Shikamaru had closed the door, the tactician found his answer for the change in demeanor.

“Is that-?” Shikamaru trailed off. It was. Nakaku held a tattered piece of black and red silk in his outstretched hand.

“Some of the other girls explained to me what occurred last night. I came in to check on them because the men often leave them injured after nights like this. It’s no excuse for bad manners, but someone drugged the sake last night. I’m sorry it happened, but at least it was only those three of my subordinates and not more.” The orange haired man actually looked slightly repentant about the affair, which surprised Shikamaru, but not enough to let down his guard. The brunette-turned-blonde could feel the others behind him gearing up to do something drastic if anyone made the slightest wrong movement. After this long undercover, with most of them inexperienced in infiltration besides the basics, tensions were running extraordinarily high.

“Yeah. Takiko managed to talk everyone but herself out of the metaphysical corner. Though,” Shikamaru glanced at the couch which had been commandeered for Terra’s unconscious form, “Talking might be the wrong word.” Hearing a snort from Neji, Shikamaru inwardly smiled grimly.

“From what I heard, I agree. Is there anything I can do?” a blonde eyebrow raised in response, before the disguised Konoha Chunin realized Nakaku was back to being his liege lord’s herald. In other words, Damasu was asking for forgiveness.

“Well, inform Damasu that we need more bedding. The rest of my girls are more inclined than before to sleep in my room rather than be at the mercies of a possible assault after what happened to Takiko. Also, tell him that our negotiations will continue as previous. This will have no effect on our deal.” The last bit was added as an afterthought, knowing that the negotiations were what really worried Damasu, not Terra’s health. Nakaku bowed at the waist, then left.

{[\|/]}               {[/|\\]}               {[/|\\]}

            A week. It had been a whole week since the night of drunken revelry that had ended so badly. Three and a half weeks since this mission had begun. Shikamaru was ready to pull out, he was just waiting for the opportune moment to do so. If all went well, they would be leaving with more information than they had left behind, and a false deal that when investigated for being unfulfilled, would lead to the whole operation under Damasu to be blown wide open. There was just one problem with this game plan. Terra still hadn’t woken up. Though the Uchiha teen was light enough to easily carry, it was likely that they would have to move very quickly after leaving from the mansion, which would be dangerous as the pyromancer could easily be injured by careless maneuvering. Even so, if Terra didn’t wake by tomorrow, they were going to leave. Staying much longer would be too risky.

Kiba gritted his teeth, wishing he knew Terra better and could offer a better idea than the ones being suggested currently. The Inuzuka could feel the ‘pack’ instinct flaring and was hard pressed to tamp it down. One of their own had been injured, badly enough to lock his own mind away to stay sane, in an attempt to keep one of the rest safe. An idea sprang to Kiba’s mind then, and he glanced at Ino, who looked miserable because, inadvertently, she was the cause of this.

“Could it be, ‘She’s safe?’ or something like that?” the Inuzuka voiced his suggestion, making the others pause and look at him. He gestured at Ino, who flinched as if she’d been burned.

“Why?” Itachi asked, a valid question for one who was looking at it from the view of favorite words/phrases of the afflicted patient.

“Because that’s what started this, wasn’t it? Terra stepping in for Ino’s safety?” Kiba’s words made them all pause. Finally, Haku, who had not been participating in the guessing ‘game’ instead choosing to continue the healing he’d been doing on and off as his waning chakra stores had allowed over the past week, stirred. Not halting his healing jutsu, Haku leaned closer.

“Terra, wake up. Ino’s safe. She’s safe from the guards.” Nothing happened, not even a hair moved. Kiba deflated slightly, as did the others.

“Well, we knew it was a long shot.” Sasuke muttered. The others nodded, before going about their business getting ready to move out.

{[\|/]}               {[/|\\]}               {[/|\\]}

            Shikamaru awoke immediately when he felt another presence in the room, however, he didn’t have time to do anything before the door slammed and a deep voice reverberated around the room.

“Almighty Push!” the genius was shoved against the wall by the bed, which had flipped onto its end. He could hear a shriek from Ino, who had been sitting with Terra, and figured she had also gotten pushed into the wall. A pair of faint noises came from the direction that Haku and Itachi had been in, as well as a great crashing of furniture.

“Shi-Rejionera!” Kiba’s voice, then someone was pulling him from behind the bed, helping him stand upright. Though he was dazed, Shikamaru looked around, seeing Itachi helping Haku to his feet, Sasuke and Neji helping them. Looking towards the couch, the Nara scion felt his blood chill. The couch had flipped over, but there plainly wasn’t anyone under it. No…but there was blood spattered on the green patterned fabric.

“Ino.” Shikamaru groaned under his breath. She wasn’t anywhere in sight, and neither was Terra.

“They took them?” Haku asked, also staring at the couch, “Whoever attacked us took them?”

“Looks like it.” Kiba hissed through gritted teeth. The Inuzuka heir began inhaling deeply, moving back and forth across the room as he worked his way to the front. Shikamaru quickly pawed through the bedclothes, looking for his mended radio. They had found that a few of the radios had been broken the night that the attack on Terra had occurred, and had since fixed them. Finally finding the plastic device, which had been knocked out during his tumble through the air, Shikamaru slid it into his ear.

“Chōji! We’ve been attacked. Prepare to engage Beta maneuvers.”

{[\|/]}               {[/|\\]}               {[/|\\]}

            Ino groaned slightly as she woke up, feeling like she’d been run over by a charging Akimichi. Slowly, she opened her eyes, and immediately felt more awake. Laying before her was Terra, still out cold and wrapped in one of the spare kimonos that had been brought on this trip. The blonde felt a yank on her hair and, realizing she was sitting up, looked to the side, seeing a flash of long orange hair.

“Ah, L-Lord Nakaku?”

“Be silent, Ino Yamanaka.” The mind-walker stilled, feeling her heart fluttering in her chest like a trapped bird. They knew who she was. If he had just said ‘Ino’ she could have passed it off as a slip, but he knew her full name. Somehow they had found out.

“H-How…” she trailed off, knowing that the longer they kept talking to her, the longer she and the very vulnerable Terra would remain unharmed by them. It helped that it might gather information, if they thought she couldn’t escape.

“How did we know who you were?” Ino couldn’t help it, she jumped. Nakaku had spoken…but it had come from the man before her, who had put a foot on Terra’s back, an unnecessary measure that showed he didn’t know how bad off the Uchiha was. The blonde Yamanaka stared at the other man, years of looking at boys helping her instantly make some assumptions. He was tall, but thin, which indicated he leaned towards Ninjutsu and speed, if not Genjutsu. Bright spiky hair, looking scarily like Naruto’s, indicated he was either not afraid of being noticed, or too fast to be most of the time. An assortment of piercings on his face and ears indicated he wasn’t worried about inflicting pain on others or himself. The most worrying part was that he had purple eyes, with ripple-like circles moving out into the similarly colored sclera, which was likely a Dōjutsu of some sort. Ino stared at the man’s clothes, recognizing them and feeling her heart’s fluttering increase. Scratch the eyes being the most worry inducing, he was wearing a black cloak with red clouds.

“A…Akatsuki.” She breathed, and the man narrowed his eyes in amusement, though he didn’t smile.

“I knew exactly who you were. Konoha’s movements are not immune to the gaze of God. I have been looking for possible recruits for my organization from here, but it has proved to be a futile attempt. It is time to pull up roots and let the operation crumble. I have everything I need from this establishment.” Here the man glanced down at Terra and Ino felt her body freeze.

“W-why? Takiko hasn’t done anything to you!” trying desperately to keep him talking.

“I know that is not his real name.” the man’s cold gaze landed on her again, but she managed to hold it. If she could deal with the cold glares and apathy of one Sasuke Uchiha until he had lightened up, she could handle a few minutes with this man.

“Fine, Terra hasn’t done anything to you. Why would you take him away?”

“Because he may only look like Itachi, but he has displayed that he does has the skills necessary to replace him.”

“You’re underestimating him. Terra would never work for you.”

“Then I will simply have to apply other means to ensure he will.”

“If you mean threaten him with death, you’re out of luck. He doesn’t live or fight for himself.” A slim, orange eyebrow rose slightly.

“Oh, then who does he fight for?”

“Those precious to him.”

“Really now. Who might that be?”

“I won’t tell you. Compromising his trust in me isn’t worth it. He trusts all of us to keep those he cares for safe, but he fights the hardest.”

“Then I will simply take the information from you.” She felt more than saw Nakaku’s hand approaching her head, but didn’t have the room to duck, his free hand still had a hold on her hair. Just before he could touch her though, a pair of senbon narrowly missed his hand, only doing so because he’d pulled back at the last second. Another pair aimed at his other wrist made Nakaku spring back releasing Ino’s hair. She immediately fell through a small ice mirror, landing in Haku’s arms. Ino noticed that he had changed out of the disguise and was back in his normal attire.

“Hello Ino, good to see you again.” The ice-user greeted, staring out at the room. Nakaku had moved to free the other man, who was immobilized by ice around his feet and ankles. Tenten had suddenly appeared from above, showering the two orange-haired men in weapons as Lee darted in and grabbed Terra. Haku turned and, still carrying Ino, ran up the wall towards the open window that Lee was also speeding towards, dodging attacks from the suddenly floating Nakaku. Ino shrieked as Haku suddenly somersaulted away from the wall into open air, dodging away from a series of black rods that the second orange-haired man had thrown. Instead of falling freely though the air, the pair of teens landed on an ice mirror that Haku had summoned. For just a moment they were stationary before the ice-user made a hand sign with the hand he had freed by letting Ino stand on her own, and they both sunk into the mirror. Ino staggered as she landed in the new location, immediately feeling a pair of hands helping her up. The blonde looked up to see Chōji and Sakura holding her arms. Looking around, Tenten was helping Lee secure the limp form of Terra onto Kimimaro’s back. While the white-haired teen wasn’t the fastest of them, he was fast enough to keep up with the extra weight and his control of his own bones made him the best choice defensively to carry Terra.

“We’re ready to go!” Lee said, stepping away from the bone-user.

“Right, Naruto, make clone groups and transform them into us. Then spread them out in all directions.” Shikamaru ordered quickly, “Itachi, Haku, Neji, how are you guys doing on chakra?” the three in question looked up, Itachi and Neji having dropped the transformations and now stood in their usual clothes like Haku. Neji was chewing on a chakra replenishing pill, but all three nodded.

“I can carry Ino.” Haku volunteered, “There isn’t time for her to change.”

“Agreed.” Shikamaru replied with a nod as a ton of Naruto clones flooded the area, before they were all shrouded in smoke from transformations, “Now, go!”

They moved as a loosely spread out group, dodging attack patrols from the disgruntled mercenaries they were leaving behind. That being said, they were all more worried about the orange-haired men that were following them. They might have varied appearances, but there was no doubt they were at least associated with the Akatsuki, as they were all wearing black cloaks with red clouds. It was a stressful five days later that Neji deactivated his Byakugan and slumped down against the rock wall of the cave they were using for cover.

“Nobody is within my range of vision.” The older Byakugan user murmured aloud, eyes closing to rest them after having them open for almost twelve straight hours. The rest of the group relaxed or sighed their relief. Haku was quick to move over to Terra and begin healing him again with what little chakra the ice-user had available. Shikamaru consulted Itachi quietly over a map of the area, calculating how far off course from the village they were, while the inexhaustible Naruto and near-inexhaustible Kiba set up traps and a patrol of clones around the perimeter.

“Man, this is _so_ troublesome.” Everyone looked up as Shikamaru spoke, the genius running a hand through his already messy hair.

“What’s wrong Shikamaru?” Chōji asked.

“We’re a week away from Konoha, and that’s at top speed and no more detours.” The Nara explained, groaning in annoyance.

“We’ll get moving in the morning.” Itachi said quietly, indicating they should all get some rest.


	6. Simple and Clean

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Terra is dead. Haku is comatose in the hospital. Itachi is being stretched thin over the village with trivial missions. However, things are looking up for Team Seven, but evil is stirring and there's no stopping the cogs of the great machine of war as darkness blooms on the horizon. Snakes will slither, clouds will drip blood, and the earth will shake. Shake, move, and reveal...
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> Terra died in the Land of Snow...or did he? The truth unravels and desperate escapes ensue. Can life continue, or will relationships crumble away in the face of new adversity. It's bad enough that Terra and Tenten were separated by the veil of death, but what else could tear them apart? Team Twelve is back in business, with a new face coming to the ranks, and missions waiting in the wings. So begins the Second Book of the Fire and Ice Series: Melted Snow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my goodness, so sorry for the slow update! School started again, so between moving in and getting used to my classes, I just didn't have the time/energy to do anything for this. So, apologies again on the super late update, here's the last chapter...

Ino jolted as she fell back into her own body. Beside her, she heard her father also moving. A cool hand on her shoulder made her open her eyes to see worried brown ones staring back.

“Is he okay?” Haku asked, eyes flicking between the two Yamanaka members and the prone form of Terra on the hospital bed.

“I’ve been worse.” A scratchy voice replied before Ino could even open her mouth. Terra was now raising his head, eyeing the beeping machines around him with the wary look of someone who’d been experimented on way too many times.

“Terra!” Tenten lunged forward latching her arms around her boyfriend’s neck and pulling him close. Haku laughed softly and shook his head when Terra began to flail slightly, unable to breathe from his position, buried in Tenten’s fairly-well developed chest.

“Uh, Tenten…” Ino barely kept from laughing at the predicament, “I think you’re smothering him.”

“Huh?” the weapons’ mistress looked down and hastily released her boyfriend.

“Thanks Ino.” Terra rasped, leaning back on the pile of pillows and threading his right hand with Tenten’s left.

“Well, it’s about time you came around.” The shinobi looked up and those that were able stood to move out of Tsunade’s way as she entered the room. Tenten stayed, and Haku moved to that side of the bed so he could stay, but be out of the way. Terra grinned wryly at the Hokage as she activated a scanning jutsu to check for any lingering injuries.

“Couldn’t keep you waiting any longer ma’am.” The pyromancer replied.

{[\|/]}               {[/|\\]}               {[/|\\]}

            Tenten was in an exceptionally good mood as she made her way to the hospital. She, and everyone else on the ‘mission from hell’ as several of the guys had dubbed it, had received hefty paychecks, and Terra had gotten a monetary compensation for the risk he’d taken to keep the others safe. In an effort to work towards moving out, Tenten had deposited her entire paycheck into her savings account. Sadly enough, it had increased the total by over a third of what it had been.

“Ow!” Tenten looked up as something collided with her head. Above her, on the hospital’s second floor, a window was open and a rope of blankets had been thrown out of the window, the end of which had collided with her head. A pair of legs in black pants swung out of the window, followed by a familiar lanky body in a black tank-top and with the hair pulled back in a high ponytail. It only took a few moments for the figure to reach the ground, but Tenten had plenty of time to cross her arms and begin tapping her foot.

“Finally.” The escapee muttered, stepping back from the blanket rope, then tugging hard and making the rest of it fall out of the window and collect at his feet.

“I hope you realize exactly how clichéd that is, Terra.” Tenten drawled. The teen in question jumped nearly a foot into the air before whirling around and staring at the brunette.

“Tenten! You gave me a heart attack!”

“Not nearly as bad as the ones your nurses will have when they find you missing.” Terra looked sheepish at her words, but crossed his arms and turned to the side.

“They keep coming in to check on me right when I’m about to fall asleep. I don’t want to be there when the doctor or Tsunade finds out what one of the nurses did earlier.” He muttered petulantly. Tenten frowned.

“What happened?” Terra looked around, extending a hand to Tenten, who took it. Before she could even inhale to ask why, Terra had scooped her up and they were dashing over rooftops towards Training Ground Twelve. The pyromancer stopped on a high branch, setting his girlfriend down gently. Tenten was staring at Terra.

“What?” the fire-user asked.

“You’re the slowest member on your team?” Tenten exclaimed, “That was like Lee with his weights off!” Terra laughed, sitting down on the branch and motioned for Tenten to do the same.

“Yeah, Haku and Itachi compete for the fastest. Kimimaro hates it when I point out that he’s faster than me, but he’s getting better at accepting that he _can_ be better than me.” He rolled his eyes and grimaced, “That kid’s got a subservient mindset. It doesn’t help that Orochimaru totally took advantage of that. He could have been something like the Sannin, but Orochimaru found him early.”

“I’ve noticed.” Tenten murmured quietly, “Anyways, what happened at the hospital?”

“Ah, I’m not sure what started it, but I woke up to about a minute into a transfusion operation. They were using my blood, because I technically have O negative blood. There’s a note on my forms, warning the nurses not to use my blood for transfusions, but apparently this nurse was new or something, because she thought it would be a wonderful idea to do just that.” The weapons’ mistress’ eyes widened and she covered her mouth with both hands.

“No.” she murmured. Terra nodded solemnly.

“Yeah. I was yelling at them, trying to get them to stop what they were doing, he might have lived, might not have, but I had to try. She told me to shut up and let them work. He died two minutes later, foaming at the mouth from the poison.” Tenten pulled Terra close, hugging him fiercely.

“It’s not your fault, so don’t you go thinking it is.” She scolded.

“I won’t.” Terra muttered, voice muffled by her shoulder and shirt.

{[\|/]}

            Ino boredly lounged against the counter, counting down the minutes until she got off work. Even though she, and the rest of the shinobi that went on the undercover mission, had a few weeks off for recovery, she wasn’t exempt from working at her family’s store. The blonde shot up straight as the door opened and, to her surprise, Haku walked in.

“Hi!” the mind walker greeted, “What are you doing here Haku? Looking for a gift for a possible lady friend?” Haku smiled faintly, but shook his head.

“Tempting, but no.” he moved towards the counter, where the poisonous plants were kept, “I need a few plants for some poisons I’m making to use with my senbon, and they don’t usually grow in this area. I was wondering if you guys carried them. The other plant shops are owned by civilians and cater towards them, rather than shinobi.”

“We have quite a few actually, and there are some that grow only in the Land of Fire, so they might be new to you. This one is-”

“Monk’s Hood or Wolf’s Bane. I know the names, at least the common ones.” Haku said quickly, “I’m looking for something a little less noticeable though. Doll’s Eyes would be nice, and I need some Stonecress and Vervain if you have any.”

“We’ve got the berries from Doll’s Eyes, if that’s what you’re looking for. We’ve got a few Stonecress plants, but they’re not in great condition.” Ino replied, then frowned, “I don't what you mean by Vervain though.”

“It’s a pale purple flower. Blooms in clumps at the top end of the stem and has five leaves? I don’t know if it’s the name you guys use for it, but that was what we called it in the Land of Water.” Haku explained. The blonde hopped down from her stool and moved to the back room, looking over the shelves before she found what she was looking for. Heaving the large book off the shelf, she staggered back into the front room and moved back to the counter. Of course, she forgot about the stool and got tangled up in it.

“Ah!” Ino exclaimed, as she lost her balance and fell. The stool clattered to the floor, and Ino was left staring at Haku, who had vaulted over the counter and caught her and the heavy book in one movement.

“We’ve got to stop meeting like this.” Haku said with a raised eyebrow. Ino reddened slightly, remembering the way he had caught her after she’d fallen through his ice mirror.

“Did you borrow that line from Terra?” she asked, trying to keep from loosing face or blushing further.

“Actually, yes I did.” Haku replied with a smile, setting the blonde back on her feet and laying the book on the counter, “ _A Encyclopedia of Herbal Colloquialisms by Image_. Well, that’s a mouthful.” The two laughed in agreement before Ino sat her stool back up and Haku returned to the customer side of the counter. The blonde cracked open the large book and turned to the ‘V’ section.

“We’ll look through and see if we can’t find what you’re looking for.” She explained, flipping fairly quickly through the initial pages.

“There!” Haku said after about twenty pages. Ino stopped and looked at the flower.

“Oh! Verbena! That’s the name we use. Yeah, we’ve got plenty of that.”

“Great.” Haku smiled and Ino had to work very hard not to blush or drool. She had realized early on during the last mission that Haku was very good looking, but when he smiled…the blonde shook her head and went about getting together the plants Haku had asked for. They didn’t carry the flowers in potted plants, but many shinobi who used poisons liked to use plants that were as fresh as possible. That meant supplying them with potted plants.

“There we go.” Ino panted, putting the last pot on the counter, between the pot for the Stonecress and the bag of Doll’s Eyes berries, “That’s two potted Stonecress, four Verbena, and five dozen Doll’s Eyes berries. That’s a fair amount of money, are you sure?” Haku nodded and pulled out a scroll as well as a roll of money.

“We can seal the pots in here, make it easy to carry.” Ino counted out change as Haku sealed the potted plants into the scroll.

“There you go.” The blonde said cheerfully, handing over the change and receipt.

“Thanks. See you around?” Ino blushed and nodded. Haku was already out the door when Ino noticed the ice, carved into the shape of a rose, that rested on the counter. It was tinted pale purple from the lighting reflecting off her shirt. Ino squealed, picking up the carving and cradling it like it was a child.

“What’s that Ino?” the blonde turned to see her mom, grinning broadly as she showed off the rose.

“A gift from a friend.” Ino replied, “I’m going upstairs to put this away, then I’m going to see Sakura!”

“Okay.” The elder blonde looked after her already disappeared daughter before sitting at the counter, “I thought she wasn’t friends with Sakura anymore…”

{[\|/]}

            Sasuke closed his eyes and concentrated, listening to the wind and the woods around him. He inhaled, exhaled, inhaled, exhaled, inhaled. Sasuke’s eyes snapped open and he spun, throwing the series of kunai he held. They all impacted in the dead center of their targets, a series of target boards suspended on the bottom sides of tree branches. Exhaling in satisfaction, Sasuke closed his eyes and slid his hands into his pockets as he ambled towards the targets.

“You can come out now.” The Uchiha smirked to himself as he gathered the kunai, replacing them in his weapons pouch after determining they weren’t damaged. He turned to see a thin girl with long dark hair and white eyes staring him down. She looked to be about eight or nine years old, and watched him with an appearance superiority that society generally associated with the Uchiha Clan. The generally had to be thrown in there now because of Terra, who had softened even Itachi’s icy expressions.

“What are you doing?” the girl demanded rather than asked. Sasuke, in moment of Terra-like levity, replied.

“Plotting to take over the world, you gonna help?” the girl’s eyes widened and Sasuke realized she’d taken him seriously, “That was sarcasm. Apparently the uptight Hyūga have issues recognizing it.” the brunette bristled and Sasuke rolled his eyes, remembering when _he_ had been that uptight.

“How dare you-”

“I’m not slandering the Hyūga name. I’m friends with Hinata and Neji actually. You need to loosen up if you think I’m bad. My cousin’s worse than I’ll ever be.”

“You know my sister?”

“Neji? Oh yeah.” _‘Hanging around Terra is going to get me killed.’_ Sasuke thought as the girl’s face flushed in anger.

“Neji is not my sister! Hinata is my sister! Neji is my cousin!”

“I know he’s your cousin, I was just messing with you.” The girl paused in her tirade, “Besides, you’ve got to admit. There are times when Neji’s hair makes him look like a girl.” And remembering the mission he’d returned from nearly a month ago, “Though Haku pulls it off much better.” He glanced at the girl and blinked, seeing that she was looking at him with the confused expression that most people reserved for Terra, “What?”

“You are very strange.”

“No I’m not, I’m Sasuke.” Again, he replied before he could even really think about it, though this time it sounded more like Haku’s brand of polite sarcasm.

“Sasuke? Sasuke Uchiha?”

“Nope, Sasuke Obvious.”

“I know that isn’t actually your name.”

“Ah, you’re learning then?”

“It’s logic, not learning.”

“That’s a very strange name to have.”

“What is?”

“Logic.”

“Why do you think my name’s logic?”

“Because you said ‘it’s logic, not learning.’ That’s a strange choice of middle name as well.”

“What are you—that’s _not_ my name.”

“Which one? Logic, Not, or Learning?”

“Gyah! _None of them!_ ” she gripped her head in frustration and confusion, “My name is _Hanabi_!”

“Well then, nice to meet you Hanabi. See you around.” And with that he disappeared in a burst of speed, going off to meet up with Naruto and Sakura for lunch before he went to spar with Terra and Kimimaro to release some of the compulsions the curse mark was feeding through his body. _‘I’ve_ really _got to stop hanging around Terra so much, even if he and Itachi are hanging out together._ ’

            Back in the clearing, eleven year old Hanabi Hyūga stared after the blur that was Sasuke Uchiha, feeling like her brain had just been used as the ball for a kendama toy wielded by a particularly violent two year old. She’d heard that the young Uchiha was a stoic, dark teen that mostly kept to himself, but… _obviously_ …something had changed that recently. She had never felt so confused, except maybe during the first fight of the canceled Chunin exams where Neji had been beaten by Naruto Uzumaki.

“That was…interesting.” She murmured to herself, looking up at the targets that Sasuke had been aiming for, at near impossible angles from where he’d been standing, and a desire for competition sparked in her. Activating her Byakugan, Hanabi turned and stared, physically into the trees that led towards the main road. Preparing kunai, Hanabi began down a path so _very_ different from her original destiny.

{[\|/]}

            By a strange combination of events, Tenten happened to be the one to find out Kimimaro’s birthday. She, along with the other konoichi, began making plans, occasionally referencing Terra or another of the bone user’s teammates for ideas and preferences. Keeping a surprise from a ninja was a difficult thing to do, but somehow they managed it. Terra led Kimimaro back to the apartment after a grueling day of training, and entered first, leaving Kimimaro to follow and flick on the lights, well used to doing so because the fire-user often walked around without turning on a light at all.

“SURPRISE!” several people had to duck to avoid the Digital Shrapnel that exploded out of his hands, and the faint clangs of kunai redirecting the bones could be heard, but finally Kimimaro calmed down enough to recognize the banner above the kitchen archway said ‘Happy 16th Birthday Kimimaro!’.

“I told you that was a bad idea.” Shikamaru huffed blandly from his spot leaning around the corner of the hallway, well out of range to be targeted for the salvo of phalanx bones.

“Hey, who cares lazy bones, there’s cake, ice cream, and sugar to be eaten and a birthday to be celebrated.” Terra called, snatching something from the top of the bookshelf and dropping it on Kimimaro’s head. It was a cardboard crown, and the bone-user too the time to glance at the TV, which reflected enough to show the words ‘Birthday Boy’ scrawled on it in Terra’s own child-like scribbling.

            Several hours later, after Terra and Itachi had both crashed from their respective sugar highs and been dragged into bed, leaving many very confused Genin, who had never seen either of the teens, Itachi especially, on sugar highs. Kimimaro had seen Haku getting several very good pictures, for later blackmail opportunities no doubt. The Kaguya stared after the last of the leaving guests, feeling a strange sense of peace.

_‘This is what being happy feels like.’_ The teen realized, _‘This is what it feels like to be part of something…something much bigger and more important than yourself.’_ His vivid green eyes tracked across the room, noticing the dozing Haku, who had collapsed onto the couch after seeing Sasuke and his team to the door. Itachi and Terra’s chakra signatures were dormant down the hall, still asleep from their sugar crashes. Kimimaro let himself just feel his teammates’ chakra, feeling utterly content with his life at the moment. His own dry, brittle-but-not feeling chakra, Haku’s calm and soothing cold, Itachi’s protective heat and shadow, and Terra’s wild and fiery predatory-protector. All of their chakras were unique and different from each other, much less their peers.

“We are different, but…it’s better like this.” Kimimaro murmured to himself, glancing upward and watching the stars begin to flash into being in the darkening sky.

{[\|/]}

            Deidara of the Hidden Stone would never admit it to anyone, but he was feeling the loss of Itachi Uchiha more than he ever thought he would. True, the bastard was the whole reason he was in the Akatsuki in the first place, but…the Uchiha was also the youngest, besides Deidara himself. Even if Itachi had acted like he was much older, there were times when he had briefly acted his age, and Deidara missed not being the only one too young to remember things that had happened when he was still a kid. The blonde terrorist sighed and leaned back against the wall, legs sprawled on his bed and hands absently shaping and molding clay. He wasn’t wearing his scope at the moment, so two pale blue eyes surveyed his room, which was surprisingly neat for a sixteen year old. However, Deidara knew that when dealing with explosives, the more organized you were, the less body parts you lost.

“Maybe now…I can leave too, un.” The former Stone ninja muttered, barely loud enough to hear. With a deft flick, a hummingbird zoomed off his palm and out of the open window. Deidara waited, sensing the tenuous connection he had with all of his creations thinning and flickering, reaching the edge of his ability to detonate. For once though, his hands didn’t rise into the familiar hand sign that was as easy as breathing now. The filament of chakra snapped, and Deidara knew his clay creation would continue to fly and act like a real bird until someone was stupid enough to try and shoot it, or attack it, and it exploded unless the chakra powering it ran out.

“Maybe.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew! Finally done. 
> 
> This is NOT the end of the story!!! I haven't quite started on it yet, but I've planned a third 'book', 'Frozen Fire' to finish off the series...though I'm not adverse to taking suggestions for one-shots or possibly doing another of the movies. Note: it will be a while before Frozen Fire comes out. I don't start posting a story until I'm completely done with it. This is due to the fact that I sometimes end up totally changing the beginning of a story, or a few of the later chapters, drastically so that if I'd published chapter by chapter, the story might be stuck in a direction I don't necessarily want it to go. Also, partially, I hate the idea of giving you guys a story that is incomplete and doesn't continue to move along, even when I get in a slump, because...tada! it's already finished, just gotta put it up on the websites! 
> 
> I do plan to start Frozen Fire soon...I just want to finish Digital Magic: Knowledge Taken first, and possibly make headway on my OTHER Naruto story, which focuses on the Akatsuki...but it's definitely not close to being finished yet. *Sigh* So, see you guys later! :)

**Author's Note:**

> "Time to face the music, or I suppose in this case, the iceberg.” :D lols I love changing old sayings to fit new situations. 
> 
> Hope you liked this chapter, and please enjoy the rest of the story. Review if you can, constructive criticism or at least comment on which characters you like. Hell, I'd appreciate just a 'hello' or a 'howdy'. I've been trying to kick this damn...whatever sickness that has apparently being going around my whole Nocturnal damned COUNTY, and the recovery times were ranging from three weeks to a month.


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